A Different Hope
by jhenrhi.ida
Summary: When two Sith Warriors wake from a 4000 year slumber, Emperor Palpatine can't pass the opportunity to add their untold ancient power to his arsenal against the Rebel Alliance. [Discontinued -Now being re-written as "Unexpected Things"]
1. 1 - The New Girls in Town

**Author's Note: This is actually something co-written between me and my boyfriend for fun. We wanted to share it and see what other people thought of our hair-brained ideas. As such, I do my best to comb through for consistency, however I do miss a couple of things here and there when it comes to the spelling of certain words. I'm from the United States, he's from New Zealand and we grew up with two different versions of English. Please bear that in mind when reading it in case you see "center" in one part and "centre" in another. Otherwise, enjoy, have fun, and leave a review!**

 **PS: If you have read/are reading 'A Time Displaced Sith', yes... this story has Nathrrya in it. The writer of TDS is my boyfriend and I'm helping him to co-write that story as well. ;)**

 **Update: I had to change a word. I'm that nit-picky about sticking to the universe.**

* * *

 **EPISODE IV - CHAPTER ONE**

Nathrrya stood on the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer, _Accuser._ She made a sound like a quiet snort through her nose as she thought about it.

 _Imperial_ … _The irony. Seems like I traded one warring galaxy for another four thousand years later. Wonderful._

The red headed Sith woman had a very low opinion of Emperor Palpatine. When she originally met the man it had been a very unpleasant experience that seemed to cling to her like a sticky film on her skin she couldn't shake off. The old man was hanging onto his sanity by a mere thread and his delusions were obvious to those with a brain. Somehow he had the idea that his secret Force-sensitive assassin, Mara Jade, was a secret. Nathrrya scoffed at the idea, knowing very well that wasn't the case. Palpatine's apprentice, Darth Vader, was a vast improvement but Nathrrya knew that if she dug deep enough into the man's history she would find a very broken human being under the guise of that life-support suit he wore. Even Vader's secret apprentice, Starkiller, wasn't much of a secret and Nathrrya had to admit she felt a little bit at home amongst the age-old Sith games. _Almost._

Captain Firmus Piett looked across the bridge of his ship to Lord Therin. She stood at the centre before the great window of the bridge with her hands clasped behind her back, her head bowed slightly, and looked to be deep in thought. What she was pondering he could only guess at. All he knew about her was her name and the fact she was a Sith like Lord Vader. Her female companion, whom he never could remember her name, was also a Sith and very skilled in the use of a double-bladed lightsaber as well as dual-wielding them. She was younger, more energetic, and perhaps a little more bold in her communications as she was constantly arguing ideas and commands. But unlike Lord Vader, neither woman had yet to choke any of the crew to death. While the younger Sith woman threatened it she never laid a hand on any of the officers or crew. Nathrrya, on the other hand, lost her temper once and it was enough for the crew to understand she was not to be trifled with. No one doubted her capabilities.

"There are orders from Lord Vader," Piett said, speaking up to gain the woman's attention. He had walked across the bridge to stand next to Nathrrya but far enough away to respect her personal space. "There is a suspected rebel ship that has obtained a copy of technical readouts of the Death Star and looks to be making high speed towards Tatooine. We are to capture the ship and retrieve the plans."

The woman turned to the captain and gave him a disgusted look when he mentioned the Death Star. In her eyes it was a Force-forsaken battle station and a complete degradation. It was commanded by Grand Moff Tarkin, whom she detested more than anyone, and was the Empire's superweapon, able to destroy a planet with one single blast of its laser cannon. She lifted the corner of her lips in a silent snarl. The Death Star reminded her too much of the _Silencer._ She thought back to the Cold War when the _Silencer_ was commissioned and build. When she learned about its inception and creation she had a very strong word with the commanding officer of the weapon - Darth Nox, otherwise known as Vitani Aria. She was a well-known Sith assassin that climbed the ranks in the Dark Council over four thousand years earlier. Nathrrya would never forget that.

Apparently the rebels had the schematics for the Death Star. _Good,_ she thought bitterly. _With any luck they can blow that damned thing out of the sky and I only pray Tarkin is on it when it goes boom._

"Strange," she mused aloud. Piett raised an eyebrow at her. "Why would the rebels make for that forsaken dustball of a planet?" Nathrrya knew that Vader would avoid Tatooine at all possible costs. Wouldn't mean that he wouldn't send in Starkiller, though. She turned to the captain. "Plot an intercept course, best speed."

"Yes my lord."

Moments later the _Accuser_ seemed to elongate before she vanished in a flash of light as they hit hyperspeed.

Captain Raymus Antilles paced back and forth on the bridge of the _Tantive IV_ , a very concerned frown gracing his features. It was obvious to him that they were far from being free of Imperial pursuit, even after effectively maneuvering out of the paths of several Imperial Star Destroyers. Pausing in his pacing he looked out of the window of the bridge at the gold and orange planet of Tatooine. They were almost at their goal.

"Captain! An Imperial-I class Star Destroyer has dropped out of hyperspace just behind us. They're demanding we shut down our engines and prepare for boarding."

Antilles furrowed his brow even more and frowned deeply at the news from his comms officer. They were so close! The doors to the bridge opened and he turned to see Princess Leia Organa enter. He felt better seeing the determination in her eyes. But there was no hiding the slight fear that came off her. She heard what the officer had said.

"What's the name of the vessel?" she asked.

The officer looked down at their computer terminal. "It's the _Accuser_!"

Leia huffed out a very unladylike curse which caught the captain off guard. "Damn it… that's Lord Therin's ship."

Not much was known about the mysterious red haired Sith woman. She and another woman appeared out of nowhere about six months ago and both had been assigned to Vader's Death Squadron. Nathrrya was given the _Accuser_ while the other just kept things in line and went and did a bunch of grunt work, which she seemed to like. Strangely, though, the death rate of Vader's officers had actually decreased since the two women joined. No one in the Alliance or the Imperial military knew what to make of that.

Leia turned to the captain. "It could be worse; it could have been the _Devastator._ " The captain was thoughtful about her statement and he had to agree as the _Devastator_ was Vader's flagship. "Do your best to evade them. I need to see to our cargo."

"I'll do my best, your highness." He bowed to the princess as she departed from the bridge.

Back on the _Accuser_ , Captain Piett held his usual professional air. "They haven't answered our hails and have entered an evasive pattern."

Nathrrya felt a longing pang in her heart which she quickly pushed away. Captain Piett was a lot like Quinn.

"Did you honestly think they'd comply?" Nathrrya raised an eyebrow at the captain. Piett hesitated, wondering if she was being sarcastic or if she really wanted him to answer.

"One lives in hopes of an easy mission."

Nathrrya scoffed. "Sorry to break it to you, Firmus, but easy missions are very misconstrued concept."

The captain was shocked that his superior called him by his first name. He watched her step forward on the bridge towards the gunnery pit. "Weapons, disable that corvette!"

Upon the order the Star Destroyer came to life. Officers punched away on their terminals, sending messages, codes and orders to each part of the cruiser's personnel. Alarms and lights flashed, making the entire crew aware that detention actions were being issued and carried out.

A sensor operative got an alert on her screen. "My lord! Some escape pods have been launched. There are lifeforms aboard."

Nathrrya nodded and pulled out her communicator. "Tara, ready yourself to take a mission to Tatooine." Putting her comm away she looked around and began to bark orders. "A mission is being assembled. They'll land when it's time. Tatooine is an inhospitable planet and whatever lifeforms are there won't get very far. But I want that corvette _secured_!"

Lord Therin walked along the main passage of the captured corvette with Captain Piett at her side and two stormtroopers at her back, blaster rifles ready should something attack. As she walked she made a mental count of the bodies, both rebel and Imperial. In her long history of operations like this, boarding procedures were never pleasant and she never liked them. She stopped short at the face of a particularly young looking rebel. She frowned, feeling it wretch at her heart.

She went down on one knee near the young man and sighed. "Piett, they're getting younger. When is this madness going to end?" Nathrrya whispered a prayer and closed the young man's eyes.

The captain wasn't sure how to respond. "When the rebels stop fighting?"

Nathrrya stood and glanced at her captain for a brief second. "Perhaps." She turned and spotted the captain of the corvette they had boarded. He was wounded but still alive, if barely. "But some of the Alliance's grievances are not without a foundation, Piett. Rebellions don't start without a reason, like a fire won't start without ignition fuel. I can think of several reasons, as I'm sure you can as well. Take away the reasons and watch a rebellion die like a fire denied oxygen. Either that or you throw the galaxy's largest military operation at the problem and hope for the best…"

She turned to Piett with a stern and steadfast gaze... "Which path do you think the Emperor has taken?"

Firmus Piett nervously battled the urge to tug at the now constricting collar of his uniform jacket. He always knew that Lord Therin could speak her mind and she often did without much consequence, but to do so, on a rebel ship was outrageous, even for her. He couldn't even see Lord Synge doing this either, and the brunette woman was much more outspoken than the red head. He cleared his throat. "I see your point, my lord."

Nathrrya nodded and turned her attention towards the Alliance captain. Antilles couldn't believe what he was hearing: it seemed Palpatine had traitors among his own ranks and rather high up from the sounds of it. Every so often the Alliance would take in Imperial defectors, but they were few and far between due to the intensity in which they are controlled. He never thought Lord Therin as a defector but the information would be of use to High Command all the same, whether or not he would be able to supply the information. He'd be lucky if he reported in at all.

Piett and Lord Therin went to the nearest computer terminal and the Imperial captain punched in a few codes and frowned. "My lord, the Death Star schematics are not in the main computer."

Nathrrya sighed and eyed her captain with an 'I told you so' glint in her eyes. "Never easy." She turned to the Alliance captain and suddenly the man wasn't able to take a breath in. He clawed at his throat as he slowly was picked up off the ground and hovered a few inches from the floor, his face turning red with the effort to get some oxygen.

"Now, Captain, where are those transmissions you intercepted?" Her eyes began to turn yellow. "What have you done with those plans?"

The clawing Antilles did on his throat was no good in relieving the pressure against his windpipe. "We didn't intercept any transmissions... _ahhh_ … This is a consular ship, my lord! We're on a diplomatic mission…"

The Sith increased the pressure on the man's neck to hurt but not kill. Her eyes deepened as she called more on the Dark Side. "If this is a consular ship… then _where_ is the Ambassador!"

The Alliance captain refused to answer and Nathrrya had to respect the man's tenacity and loyalty. Instead she snarled and released the man, allowing him to fall to the deck in a sputtering, coughing heap. She turned to Piett for a moment before she addressed one of the Stormtroopers. "Commander, tear this ship apart if you have to. I want the plans found and bring me the Ambassador. Whoever it is, I want them alive!"

The Stormtroopers scattered as soon as they got their orders. It wasn't long before Princess Leia was brought before the Sith lord by a small squad of soldiers. Nathrrya raised her head at the young woman as they brought her before the red head.

"Lord Therin," Leia said, not pleased about being manhandled. She glared at the Sith woman. "I should have known. Only you or Vader could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not stand for this when they hear you've attacked a diplomatic-"

Nathrrya snorted and cut off the woman's tirade. "Don't play games with me, your Highness," she hissed. "You weren't on any mercy mission this time. You passed directly through a restricted system and several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies." She pointed an accusatory finger at the princess. "I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leia said with a shake of her head. "I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan."

"You're a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!"

Captain Piett watched nervously as Princess Leia was marched away by the Stormtroopers. She was guided through the smouldering doors that had been blasted through on the side of the corvette. Once she was out of sight he turned to his superior.

"Holding her is dangerous, my lord," he said. "If word of this gets out it could generate sympathy for the rebellion within the senate."

Nathrrya listened and nodded, understanding what her captain was saying. "Yes, but it's a risk we have to take. We've traced the Rebel spies to her and now she's our only link to finding those plans and their secret base."

"True, but she'll die before she tells you anything, my lord."

The Sith woman clicked her teeth together thoughtfully. "Let me worry about that, Captain. Right now, I want you to send a distress signal and then inform the senate that all aboard were killed."

Piett took note of her demands and was about to leave to carry them out when another Imperial Officer came running up to them. "My lord, the battle station plans are not aboard this ship. The logs were searched and no transmissions were made and it was found that an escape pod was jettisoned towards the planet, but there were no lifeforms aboard. Most likely a decoy to throw us off."

Hearing this rang bells in Nathrrya's head and her eyes flared with the Dark Side ever so quickly. She spun towards Piett with her face almost red with fury. She cursed, using a word that a woman shouldn't be heard saying, and it was clear to her captain that she was angry.

"Droids!" she screamed. "Damn the Force! She must have used droids to carry the plans off the ship. Captain, send Lord Synge to the surface and track down those mechanical dump heaps and retrieve those plans. You are to see to it personally."

Captain Piett saluted his commanding officer. "Yes, my lord."

The surface of the dustball planet was hot and scorched. A desert planet unlike any other it was considered one extreme of a two sided coin to the planet Hoth. The Sith Infiltrator shuttle flew down from the outer atmosphere and landed just outside of the closest spaceport. Dust was still settling when the hangar hatch opened and a female figure walked out onto the burning rock. The woman was shapely, wore green everything and had hair blacker than night and eyes so vividly green that they were unnerving. Already she could feel her skin drying out from the lack of moisture in the air. She licked her lips and placed a booted foot on the actual ground.

Behind her an assassin droid followed. It was a dirty old thing that had programmed itself to follow the woman around. She overhauled the systems and gave the droid a better blaster, painted him black and yellow and, using some old memories she had, reprogrammed the droid to have a very specific vocabulary and speech pattern.

"Query," the droid said, looking around. "Master, does this planet hold meatbags?"

The woman grinned. The memories. This was HK-79's first mission out with her after building him.

"Yes, HK. It does. Not many, but if there are sand people, kill them. They're disgusting anyway. And stay away from the Jawas... they like things like you."

"Affirmation: Yes, Master!"

The woman raised her hand to her face and activated her communicator. "This is Lord Synge to Lord Therin. I'm on the surface. Commencing the search for the pods and humanoids now. I'll let you know if I find anything."

 _"This is Lord Therin. Coordinates set. Try not to kill them right away. I want them captured and preserved and brought to the ship."_

Another smirk. "I'll try, Nat. You know me."

" _That's what worries me, Tara."_

She cut the comm and looked around again. HK-79 glinted in the light of the suns and it shined in her eyes. She groaned and turned away. K'natara, or Tara as she was sometimes called in private, was a Sith warrior. She was born with her Force abilities to a family of non-Force users and was taken at an early age to train in the ways of the Dark Side. She didn't always have the title of Sith Lord, but since there was no one around to stop her, she adopted the title for herself. Her former master would have been rather proud if he were still alive to see her. But he wasn't. She happened to watch him as her good friend and ally, Nathrrya, ran him through nearly four millennia ago. The memory brought a smile to her face but it was short lived.

She kicked at a small dust pile and sighed. "Four thousand damn years and I still abhor this Force-forsaken dustball."

Tara and HK-79 set off in the direction of the closest humanoid settlement. HK's sensors were able to pick up several life forms around them, but none were hostile and Tara didn't bother to investigate. She looked down as she walked and noticed something shiny in the sand. She knelt down and picked up the piece of metal. HK-79 came up beside her and scanned the piece of debris but she didn't need him to tell her what it was. A sudden ripple ran through her and she felt herself shiver against the intense heat of the planet. Something felt off and it was coming through the Force. She stood and got back on her communicator.

"I found something," she said. "And something here is rippling in the Force. Since you don't want me to unnecessarily kill something, what would you have me do?"

Nathrrya was about to leave the captured corvette but something about the Princess had been gnawing on her mind ever since meeting Leia Organa when her communicator went off. She listened to Tara's message and frowned at the information she was given by her fellow Sith lord. She raised her comm to her lips. "Just be careful. I have a feeling Starkiller or Jade may be around looking for wayward Jedi - some of them are still unaccounted for. It's unlikely any are on Tatooine but it's not impossible. Just remember your orders and bring anyone alive back to the ship."

Tara confirmed her orders and switched off her communicator. She motioned for HK-79 to follow her as they followed the path of debris but it was getting thinner and was spread farther out. The suns were getting higher in the sky and the heat was getting more intense, causing HK-79's sensors to go on the fritz and an unbearable sweat to stick her clothes uncomfortably to her skin. Parts of Tara were sweating that she didn't know could. That proved how long it had been since she's been on this particular planet and she was eager to complete her mission and get the hell off.

But she found her mind beginning to wander as they continued on. The scorching heat sucked the moisture right out of her skin and it beaded in glistening drops on whatever exposed skin she had, continuing to add to her discomfort. The dust made her nose itch and she couldn't help but recall her early years on the Sith homeworld of Korriban as there were similarities between the two planets. She made another mental note to look for the homeworld one of these days.

"Observation: Look, master. Off in the distance there seems to be a group of life forms. Shall I despatch them?" HK-79 had a pitch in his mechanical voice to indicate he would be thrilled to comply with the order if she so deemed it.

Tara pulled a pair of binoculars from a pack she had brought with her from the ship. Putting the eyepiece to her face she scanned the horizon in the direction HK-79 indicated. She furrowed her brow as she caught a glimpse of a young man, dirty blond hair, and an older gentleman. They were trading with travelling Jawas. With them seemed to be two droids - a protocol droid and an astromech.

Curious. She zoomed in on the droids and couldn't help but notice how they seemed to be well cared for. They were relatively clean but had become dusty from possibly roaming around the surface of the planet for a little bit. The protocol droid's sheathing was shiny and seemed like something a royal droid would be designed to look. The astromech was white and blue, usually indicative of a droid used on small luxury cruisers. She frowned and got the feeling of the rippling effect in the Force when she put her attention on the younger man. There was something about him that felt off and she couldn't place it.

"Nat," she said, getting back on her communicator. "I think I found Republic droids - an astromech and a protocol. Want me to bring them in?"

Before she could get an answer HK-79 turned around suddenly, raising his rifle and started to shoot at something. Tara felt the Force ripple again and she dropped everything, pulling out her two light sabers and activating them. The black laser of each blade emanated a pale green light - crystals of her own design - and they clashed with the Sith traditional red blades of Starkiller. Tara snarled as she pushed him back. He went flying backwards and had used the momentum to flip and land on his feet.

"You're really getting on my nerves," she said as she advanced towards him, spinning her blades around at her sides for effect. "Haven't I handed you your ass enough times for you to understand that I'm stronger than you?"

Starkiller held a flat, stoic expression on his face but he eyes held a fire that she loved to see - it meant they were going to have some fun. His brown eyes looked towards her assassin droid and he used his blades to deflect the blaster shots away from him and towards the Sith woman. Tara, in her turn, used her blades to do the same. She cursed, thinking that the noise of their battle may have scared off the humans and those droids. If that was the case and she lost them, she would have to spend more time tracking them down and she was getting very upset.

Starkiller used the Force and threw one of his lightsabers towards HK-79. In the blink of an eye the droid had been cut in half and lay in ruins on the dusty ground. Tara looked at her fallen droid, her anger growing. She snapped her head back towards Starkiller and snarled. She Force leaped to him and crossed their blades once again.

"That's going to take DAYS to fix, you son of a nerfwench!"

The other Sith only smirked in that infuriating way. It always got under her skin because she would swear he was flirting with her. She just wanted to cut his head off and stick it on a pike for display; apparently that was too much for anyone to comprehend because she was always instructed not to. Regardless, the two continued to clash their blades together, both skilled in the art of dual-wielding. Tara knew that Starkiller had observed her fighting skills and that was something he was known for, adapting the skills of others and blending them into his own unique fighting skills.

"Well, at least you won't be bored and you'll be out of my way."

Tara screamed and made a brash move. She deactivated her light sabers and dropped them to the ground. With her hands, now freed, she grabbed his wrists in a death grip and leaned back, pulling him forward towards her. She fell onto her back in the dust and used her feet to kick at his abdomen, effectively flipping the man over her and onto his back. The force knocked the air from his lungs and she flipped over on top of him, pinning him down on the ground. She grinned down at him, now having the upper hand.

"Your master is an idiot," she said. "He didn't train you as well as he should have."

No one knew who Starkiller's master was, but she and Nathrrya weren't no one. Between the two of them they knew that Starkiller was Vader's "secret" apprentice, just like Jade was Palpatine's "secret weapon" but they were far from secret, at least to the two Force sensitive women. Tara and Nathrrya weren't against the idea of there being multiple apprentices and masters in the Sith. Time had proven that something called the Rule of Two came into existence not too long ago: one master, one apprentice, within the Sith at any one time. It stopped the inner conflict that apparently wiped out the Sith to begin with. Tara and Nathrrya could only roll their eyes at the stupid idea but it had a point - the Sith wouldn't have been wiped out if it wasn't for the in-fighting between the Sith. It made sense why the Jedi managed to survive this long - they didn't have that kind of inner betrayal the Sith had.

(-)|(-)|(-)

The young man, Luke Skywalker, tapped his uncle's shoulder with a furrowed brow. Luke heard blaster fire off in the distance from where they were while they were doing trade with the travelling Jawas. He pointed towards where the sounds were coming from and the older gentleman, Owen, looked in the direction his nephew was indicating.

Both men stayed where they were and listened. Owen heard the unforgettable sound of lightsabers hitting against one another and he frowned heavily. He couldn't see that far clearly but he didn't need to see to know that it was a bad sign. He put his hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"I think it's time we left, Luke," he said. "Grab the two droids and let's get home."

Luke heard the concern in his uncle's voice and looking towards the Jawas he saw they were just as eager to get going as well. He motioned for the two droids to follow.

(-)|(-)|(-)

Old Ben Kenobi stood outside of his little hovel within the dune sea and had a very concerned look upon his elderly face. Almost instantly he was able to feel the three distinctive Force signatures as they rippled along the surface of Tatooine. One was average of an apprentice but familiar to him, two were incredibly strong and one of them was on the planet and the other was orbiting. The one signature with the familiarity caught his attention the most. It had that feel to it like the signature of his former pupil. The two odd ones had appeared most unexpectedly six months prior… no warning and no preamble.

Ben furrowed his brow as he looked along the horizon. He couldn't figure out what could have brought those three other Force users to Tatooine and all at the same time. If they had somehow come across Luke's presence it didn't bode well for him, Luke or his family and this concerned the old man greatly. He sighed - he really was getting too old for this. It had been years since he fought a duel, almost two decades, and while he tried to keep in shape it was the ever forward motion of time that was taking a toll on him physically. Ben knew he would struggle if he faced off against Vader if they were to ever meet again.

 _Compassion of the Jedi,_ He thought bitterly. _I should have killed him when I had the chance… and now the galaxy has paid dearly for that compassion._

He turned his face towards the heavens. Again he frowned and it went deeper into his face. None of the three Force users were hindered by a life support suit nor mechanical limbs. As a matter of fact, they all felt young to him through the force. They would more agile, quicker, more on the ball as one could say. He would be utterly outmatched by just one of them and completely destroyed if all three came at the same time. The old Jedi didn't want to think about that.

One thing was certain - he couldn't sit around and wait for them to come to his doorstep. That just wasn't an option in his arsenal and he wasn't going to give the Sith a chance to find Luke. It was time to leave. Ben knew this would come and now it had. To hell with what Owen Lars said - he could come up with some suitably crazy, possibly half-brained idea, grab Luke and run like hell away from this planet and get as far away as possible.

Oh, to be young again! He had better ideas in his youth… they were about a third as half-brained but he had his moments.

He let a small smile grace his lips as he closed his eyes briefly. "Just like old times."

(-)|(-)|(-)

"Do you like me that much or are you going to get off of me?"

Tara glared down at Starkiller and begrudgingly got up. The two Force users dusted themselves off and the woman sighed when she looked at HK-79. A groan escaped her lips as she seethed at the idea of spending hours in the shop repairing the droid. She growled towards her unwanted visitor. "Damn it, Sparkle Star, those droids are hard to build."

Starkiller scowled at her nickname for him. He hated it when she used that term. It was demasculating, slightly demoralizing and just plain annoying. There were other adjectives for it as well but he was too impatient to sit and really think about them. He looked down at the junk heap that used to be her droid companion and toed a piece of yellow painted debris. "Assassin droids? Where the hell'd you get this? Weren't they completely out of production, like, a thousand years ago?"

Tara was looking through her binoculars "Shut up," she said, scanning for those life forms. "PROXY is similar."

"He's a training droid."

"He's basically programmed to kill," she retorted. "He's just not very good at it." She rolled her eyes and cursed when she couldn't pick up on the humans and droids anymore. "Ugh… why are you still bothering me?"

(-)|(-)|(-)

Nathrrya's face had a distinctly disgruntled look on it. She palmed the door control of Princess Leia's holding cell and indicated for the two Stormtrooper guards to remain where they were. She went in and closed the door behind her, leaving herself and the princess alone.

"I'm a senator and this was the best you could do?" Leia sat up from the very uncomfortable bench she had and gestured to the room in general. The red headed Sith smirked.

"I don't know… considering you could be convicted for treason this cell seems perfectly adequate, your highness." Nathrrya took a moment and silently studied the other woman, her eyes narrowing as she did so and returning to normal. "If I'm not mistaken, you're adopted, are you not?"

Leia frowned at the question but nodded. It wasn't a secret that Bail Organa wasn't her biological father. "I don't see how that has to do with anything."

"Truthfully, it's got nothing to do with anything," Nathrrya stated, matter of factly. She waved her hand to dismiss it for the most part, but gave the princess a different look, something that told Leia the Sith knew something more than she did. "It was my curiosity that got the better of me. What would you say, or how would you react, if I told you I thought you were Force sensitive?"

Leia blinked several times and began to laugh. Of all the absurdity that the Sith had in their heads, this particular Sith had to come and ask her if she was Force sensitive? Leia couldn't wrap her head around it.

"Me? Force sensitive? You've got to be joking. I'm the most Force blind person in the galaxy!"

Nathrrya stared at the princess for a moment longer and put a dismissive look on her face. "Not the answer I was expecting, but it does answer my question."

She was going to say something else to the captured woman but her communicator beeped. She picked it up and allowed the smooth voice to filter through the speaker.

" _Please excuse my interruption, my lord."_ It was Captain Piett. " _We have new orders… and I'm afraid you won't like them. Your presence is very much requested at the bridge as soon as possible and see them for yourself."_

The Sith wasn't impressed and already had a bad feeling about what their orders could be. "Are they really that bad, Piett?"

" _My lord, I would have told you what they were over the communicator if they weren't."_

 _Son of a bantha…_ Nathrrya knew it had to be the kind of bad news that got under her skin, the kind where she would want to cause physical harm to something, and usually that something was the hapless data pad the orders were usually put on.

"Very well, Captain. I'll be there shortly." She disconnected the communicator and put it away. She turned her attention to the princess again and gave her a smile, though there was a lot of spite behind it. It made Leia shiver to see it.

"I'm sorry, your highness. I must cut our visit short. I do hope you enjoy your stay."


	2. 2 - Playing in the Sand

**Author's Note:** So, there were several annoyances that came up when I thought the chapter was officially picked through with a fine toothed comb, but that wasn't the case. I'd thrown several virtual sharp pointy objects at my heart's affection and had to somehow revive him when I realized the goofs were mine. It's good... my better half is fine and I'm... eating crow. Tastes like chicken, I suppose. So this is the FINAL time I'm updating this damn chapter and for chapter 3, Donz and I are gonna scrutinize the damn thing within an inch of its life before I post it. It's almost practically done but I won't post it for a week or so until I _know_ it's fine. So... read on and let us know what you think! (PS: I'm going to _kill_ something if I have to do one more thing to either chapter 1 or 2...)

* * *

 **EPISODE IV - CHAPTER TWO**

K'natara was seething and very hot. Every twenty or so minutes she would curse about the ungodly heat on Tatooine and Starkiller was ready to kill her. The only problem about that was he'd been yet able to get the better of her in a duel. She was strong in the Force and very skilled for a young woman in her early twenties. But he'd always been interested in where she and her counterpart had come from and why there was this sudden resurgence of Sith.

The two Force users were travelling together on a speeder and they worked to track the humans and droids that had slipped away while they were battling it out. Tara demanded the assassin come with her because it was he who fouled up her mission and caused the group to slip away. Since her assassin droid, HK-79, had been utterly obliterated by Starkiller he was now her navigator and assistant, whether he liked it or not. Starkiller wasn't thrilled and had his own concerns about deviating off his own mission to Tatooine.

"If Vader wants something done, then he should get off his ass and do it himself," Tara debated as they sped across the dunes. "My own master had me doing all of his dirty work and eventually I got tired of it. That and another one of his apprentices killed him before the Dark Council."

The young man listened to what the woman was saying. He'd only learned a little about what the Dark Council was and as far as he knew, they all but disappeared entirely millennia ago. If Tara's master had died in front of the Dark Council, then she seemed incredibly displaced in time. It made his head spin but he tried to understand. If she was delusional and decided to fit herself into history just to make a joke, then he thought it a rather clever way to learn history.

"How did you learn all of that?" he asked. Tara kept her eyes forward as they raced onwards.

"I lived it." She took a hard left to avoid running into one of the native wildlife and just managed to keep a decent speed to outrun the lizard looking creature. Starkiller held on since the speeder wasn't designed to have two passengers. He squeezed the seat with his knees and held a little more tightly to the woman's waist. The scent of her hair tickled his nose and made him think of the scent - it was clean and sweet-smelling, like fruit.

His mind wandered at the memory of first meeting her and the other Sith woman, Nathrrya. Darth Vader had sent him to spy on the two women and find out where they came from. It wasn't until well after that Vader learned of their origins from the Emperor directly. Regardless, Starkiller enjoyed the mission and got to meet Tara for the time and, like every encounter afterwards, had his rear end handed to him like a royal dinner.

On and off for the last six months Tara and Starkiller had been continuously running into one another on various missions. Most of the time he's doing one thing and she is contradicting his mission with something of her own. Usually her very presence causes things to go wrong for him because she's so bold. He was trained to be stealthy, to use the shadows to hide and manipulate the Force through them for his own ends. When Tara came into the picture, she was flashy - always wearing revealing clothes brightly colored green and teal - and she brandished her sabers in such a way that she laid waste to anyone around. The woman abhorred the idea of leaving witnesses or survivors.

"The only reason I haven't killed you is because I don't want to have to kill Vader."

He remembered those words from a month ago. By the way she said it was clear to him that the secret was out that he was Vader's apprentice. Neither she nor Nathrrya seemed to care about that or pay any attention to the Rule of Two, which Vader was in blatant disregard of to begin with. In his mind she only said that because she would end up defeating his master. With her age, agility and skills it didn't cross his mind that Vader could possibly take her on and not survive. One thing he did notice is that the overall resurgence of Force users, in general, was taking a new hold on the galaxy. They were younger and much harder to control. Even he had his moments.

Tara suddenly stopped the speeder they were on and looked around. Something felt very strange to her and she dismounted, pushing Starkiller's arms off of her. She took a few paces away from the speeder and pulled out her binoculars again, putting them to her eyes and looked out among the never-ending sea of sand. She felt the unmistakable sensation of lost life. Someone - two people, actually - had died recently and the Force shook with it. When her eyes landed on billowing smoke off in the distance towards the west she knew where she needed to go.

Just by looking around her she saw a few spires crawling from out of the sand. She recognized them from her last trip to Tatooine as moisture captures. There had to be a moisture farm nearby and part of her realized that the nearest farm was probably raided by the pirate scum that liked to make their home on the planet, or the indigenous Sand People decided to attack the locals. Either way, people died and there was smoke and there was a possibility that she could find clues to the missing droids she was now after.

It took about ten minutes to make it to the destination. The smell of burning metal, wood and oil tickled her nose and made her sinuses hurt. Her eyes scanned the scene around her as she watched the farm crumble. Starkiller had taken to her side and the two of them started to rummage through the debris, hopefully finding the droids she had seen earlier.

"What is so urgent about these droids?" he asked, kicking aside a large smoldering platform. He looked down and froze for a quick second. There were two skeletal bodies under the fallen wall. They were badly burned, but he could tell just by the shape that was one female and the other was male. Tara came up to him and also looked down on the corpses.

"It's suspected that rebels hid the Death Star plans on one or both of the droids," she said, almost absently. "I'm under orders to retrieve them and return them to Lord Therin so we can get the plans and stop the rebels from making an attack."

Something about the way she spoke while looking at the two dead humans caught Starkiller's attention. He looked at her and frowned, wondering what had gotten into her. "Is that remorse?"

Tara's jaw clenched and she glared at him. For a brief second her green eyes flashed yellow with the Force and Starkiller felt it constrict around his chest, but he was gone in an instant. The woman beside him took a shaky breath in and let it out. She didn't feel any better, regardless of the breathing tricks Nathrrya had taught her to help.

"My parents died the same way."

She turned abruptly and that was the indication that the conversation was done.

"This is Lord Synge to the Accuser," she said into her communicator. There was some static but no response. "Damn it, Piett, answer me!"

"This is Captain Piett," the man said. "Report?"

"I was momentarily distracted but I think I found a destination point for the droids we're searching for. The place is utterly demolished…" -she looked around and frowned- "and I want to say that Stormtroopers did this but I can't be certain. It would defeat our purpose. Either way, there is no sign of either droid in the debris and the sand is too disturbed to determine directionality if they escaped. Orders?"

There was more static as the voice changed to that of Lord Therin. "Keep on it. Track those goddamned droids. I want them found, Synge."

The communicator shut off suddenly and Tara frowned. Something was very amiss aboard the ship to have Nathrrya that annoyed and frustrated. She sounded like she was barely keeping it together and Tara only hoped there was a ship to return to once she tracked and retrieved the droids and the plans.

"Tara, here."

The Sith woman looked towards Starkiller and went to his side. He was crouching down and looking at something closely in the sand. She bent down and looked as well and took in the patterns of the sand waves. One was a shuffling set of prints and the other was a tri-roller pattern. They matched the description of the droids she was looking for. Off in the distance she saw something else and walked over to it. She found another set of prints that were humanoid.

It led out into the dune sea and towards the rocky ledges where Sand People tended to dwell. She groaned inwardly but knew she was on the right track. She looked to Starkiller.

"Wanna kill some locals?"

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

Nathrrya stalked onto the bridge, unable to stop thinking about Princess Leia. The young woman was clearly Force-sensitive and as she was a senator, how was it that Vader and the Emperor both missed her? What was driving the Sith to distraction was how familiar Leia's force presence felt.

Nathrrya stopped dead, her eyes going wide with shock. Living Force! She thought, Leia is related to Vader that's why she feels so familiar. The Sith couldn't see Vader having relations with a woman forced or otherwise, not with that damned suit he had to wear. But Leia was in her late teens if not a little older and she knew Vader hadn't always been in that suit, not that the Dark Lord talked about much if ever. So the idea of Vader having a family wasn't that outlandish. But that still left a slew of questions that needed answering.

Oh, Force, why me? Nathrrya thought as she rubbed her forehead with one hand. The Force tingled around her, whatever the Sith would discover in her investigations would change things dramatically. It was Captain Piett clearing his throat and wordlessly handing her a datapad with their new orders that pulled the Sith back to the present.

Firmus Piett watched Lord Therin's mood change from the distracted to something much darker that promised bodily harm to anyone who said or did the wrong thing. He was reminded when she had first taken command of the Accuser. None of the crew knew what to make of having a female Sith in command much less the fact there were two of them. They had all been nervous in the extreme, not long after they had taken part in an operation against some rebel ships and during the battle escape pods had been lurched from the rebel ships the gunnery officer had asked for permission to fire on the pods as it was standard practice.

Lord Therin gave the man a look that should have killed him. "Not on my ship it's not." She had then turned to him her eyes yellow "Captain, make it clear to the other imperial ships, any that engage in such blatant war crimes, their captain and the one responsible are to be brought before me, is that understood?"

Unfortunately several imperial ships didn't heed the warning and everyone in the task force saw firsthand what happens when a Sith Lord loses their temper. It had taken weeks in dry-dock to repair the damage the bridge had suffered as a result. From what Piett could recall, Vader had been somewhat amused by the whole incident.

Piett was brought out of his musings by Nathrrya using some very unladylike language as she crushed the data pad to a quarter of its size before it was sent hurtling across the bridge to bury itself in the bulkhead next to the main blast doors. To his credit, the stormtrooper that was standing guard only centimetres from the impact point didn't so much as flinch.

" _This is Lord Synge to the Accuser,_ " they heard Tara's voice come over the comm. " _Damn it, Piett, answer me!_ "

Firmus rolled his eyes, the impatience of youth, he thought. "This is Captain Piett, report?"

"I was momentarily distracted but I think I found a destination point for the droids we're searching for. The place is utterly demolished…" -there was a slight puuse- "...and I want to say that Stormtroopers did this but I can't be certain. It would defeat our purpose. Either way, there is no sign of either droid in the debris and the sand is too disturbed to determine directionality if they escaped. Orders?"

Piett checked the deployment of their ground forces while Nathrrya took over talking to Tara.

"Keep on it. Track those goddamned droids. I want them found, Synge." Despite her best efforts Nathrrya knew she couldn't hide how livid she was. Not after the Emperor's latest orders. She was sure he was trying to drive her as insane as he was.

The Captain turned back shaking his head. "We've got troops in Mos Espa, Mos Eisley and Anchorhead but there are none near any of the moisture farms."

Using a Jedi calming technique, Nathrrya managed to keep her temper under control, if only just. Thank you cousin, she thought. "That's strange why someone would go to the trouble of making it seem like stormtroopers attacked a moisture farm?"

Piett raised an eyebrow, a moment ago Nathrrya was on the verge of losing her temper but she seemed to have it under control, for now. "Unknown, my lord." The captain consulted the terminal in front of him. "The farm is listed as belonging to Owen and Beru Lars and they have a nephew, Luke Skywalker, oddly there is no record of who his real parents are or what happened to them."

That got the Sith Lord's attention. "Find them. I don't care how and the Hutts can lump it. If they start to complain too much about Imperial troops, threaten them with orbital bombardment. As long as the Hutts stay out of Imperial business I don't care what they do."

"At once, my lord!"

Nathrrya nodded, turning, and stalked off the bridge and headed to one of the training rooms as she still needed to work her aggression out. The thought of having to take orders from Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was enough to make her sick.

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

"Ow... what happened?" Luke moaned rubbing his head.

"Rest easy, son, you've had a busy day." Old Ben said as he helped the boy to sit up. "You're fortunate you're still in one piece."

"Ben? Ben Kenobi! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Luke cried on seeing the old man.

"The Jundland wastes are not to be traveled lightly. Tell me young Luke, what brings you out this far?"

"Oh, this little droid!" Luke said pointing to R2-D2. "I think he's searching for his former master... I've never seen such devotion in a droid before... there seems to be no stopping him. He claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he's talking about?"

Ben sat down on a large bolder as he pondered on what to say for a moment, scratching his scruffy beard. "Obi-Wan Kenobi... Obi-Wan? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time... a long time."

"I think my uncle knew him. He said he was dead."

Ben scoffed at that. "Oh, he's not dead, not... not yet." How much longer he remained in the land of the living was another question.

"You know him!" Luke was excited by this news.

Ben smiled. "Well of course, of course I know him. He's me!" the old man said tapping his chest. "I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since oh, before you were born."

Luke wasn't sure how to take this development. "Then the droid does belong to you."

"Don't seem to remember ever owning a droid. Very interesting..." Ben mused, he may have never owed the droid but he had known the person who had. The last time Ben had seen the little blue and white astromech was twenty years before.

Ben suddenly looked up at the overhanging cliffs but it wasn't just the return of the Tusken Raiders that had him worried. He had felt a strong spike in the Dark Side form the Sith on the orbiting ship. It was clear they were unhappy about something.

"I think we better get indoors. The Sandpeople are easily startled but they will soon be back and in greater numbers."

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

Tara liked to consider herself a decent tracker for what she was trained for. Baras, in her youth, was tough on her in regards to the find-and-conquer missions he made her do. A lot of her targets were hard to find, causing her to have to become friendly with bounty hunters to hone those skills. Between being able to track the physical and sense the natural through the Force, she'd become something to be reckoned with. Many Sith assassins back in the day could never match her capabilities, for someone who had only been about twenty standard years old.

The Sith woman waved her green and black saber to deflect incoming blaster fire from the hostile sand people. While she and Starkiller were tracing the steps of the wayward droids, the inept apprentice triggered a sand trap, causing about thirteen hunters to spring forward from the sand to attack them. She cut down the last one and it squealed in its last moment of life. She huffed and turned her attention to her... him. She seethed.

"Damn it, man!" she said, deactivating her sabers and returning them to her utility belt. "I'm a marauder, not a juggernaut!"

Starkiller put his sabers away and walked up to her, a very displeased look on his face, but there was a playful glint in his eyes. He smirked at her. "You're just sore because I killed more than you."

"I'm not counting! I'm trying to stay alive so I can complete my mission and get the hell off this Force forsaken planet. I hated it then and I hate it now. Come on!" She turned on her heel and stalked off in the direction of the footprints they had found. "And don't step on any more traps, Sparkle Star..."

He cursed. "I don't sparkle!"

The man looked after her before he fell into step behind her as she walked. He kept his eyes on her shoulders and wiggled his nose as a gentle wind blew the fruity smell towards him. The longer he was with her the more he seemed to like that scent and was beginning to really associate it with her. She didn't seem much like a typical girly-girl but she certainly was confident in her femininity. Her outfit was slinky and revealing and it both kept her invisible because she blended with most groups, but also made her stick out like a sore thumb when aboard any of the Imperial ships. it made a lot of the Imperial officers and ensigns rather uncomfortable.

"Will you quit looking at my ass?"

"It's not an easy thing to do," he said, angling his head to get a better look. "There's really no ass to see."

Without warning a fist tackled his gut and he doubled over, the pain wracking through his abdomen and down through his legs. The wind was knocked out of his lungs and he choked.

"Spast!" he coughed out. "What the hell, woman!?"

"What? That was a love tap. Keep that up and I'll take you right here in the sand." When she removed her hand from his gut he lost his balance and fell to his hands and knees. For good measure, Tara kicked him while he was down and he fell over onto his side. She put her foot squarely on his chest and he got a good look at the bare skin of her leg. Up close made it look smoother than from a distance and he grinned at her.

"I like a woman in charge," he said. He grabbed her knee with both of his hands and tossed her down to the ground beside him. He rolled and managed to pin her down. He grabbed her wrists and trapped them above her head, making her chestpiece stretch across her torso. "But I like being on top."

She glared at him, narrowing her eyes. It was a steely look. "You're one bold son of a bantha, Sparkle Star."

Hearing the offensive name ticked the man off. He frowned and squeezed his hands around the woman's wrists and her glared evaporated. She hissed at the pressure and it felt like her one wrist was about to pop. He leaned down extremely close to her face and she suddenly felt very different around Vader's apprentice. "Call me that again, and I'll make sure _I_ take _you_."

There were so many connotations in that sentence. Tara was certainly stronger than Starkiller but she had to respect him for being a man to a degree. While she had trouble with authority and with people who acted high and mighty, she was learning respect and when to give it. Starkiller had his moments.

"Get off."

The sheer intention from the woman almost made him move, but he stayed put. Part of him made him move his face closer to hers, his own intent was to kiss her. Why, he couldn't say or fathom. It felt right. But she turned her head and closed her eyes.

"Please…" she said quietly. "Just… get off."

That was not the Lord Synge Starkiller was familiar with. The woman beneath him was just… a woman. He stopped what he was doing and watched her for a few baffling moments… and then he got up and pulled her to her feet. He watched her wipe herself clean of the sand and then start moving forward, once again on the hunt.

After long minutes of silence he had to ask her: "How can you be so skinny?"

He did notice her figure was thin, not extremely curvy but she didn't look malnourished. He'd seen her eat and still couldn't believe she could gain any weight.

"My metabolism is faster than most for a Sith warrior," she said, seemingly not averse to answering that question. But her voice was flat like she wasn't really interested in talking… not after what just occurred between them. At least she wasn't yelling at him. "I use the Force so much it pulls energy from my body, so I burn more energy. I actually eat a lot and can't seem to gain any weight, unless I don't use the Force at all."

"I've never heard of that before."

Tara glanced back at him before turning her attention to the ground once more. "No one has. I'm apparently an abnormal specimen. At least that's what my former master called me."

Starkiller's interest perked at mention of her master. "Who was your master?"

Tara sucked in a breath of hot air and she tensed. Talking about her former master was not something she was interested in, though she could understand Starkiller's want for the information. Her master was long dead since her friend, Nathrrya, saw to it personally. Either way, it was not a comfortable subject and she wasn't thrilled about having to answer it.

"His name was Darth Baras. Back in the day he was a great Sith visionary with an extremely twisted mind-set. He had one of the largest spy networks the galaxy had ever seen and he was good at manipulating events from the shadows due to this.

"He was also power-hungry, paranoid and a right coward. Reminds me a lot of Palpy, except Baras was ten times heavier and bounced when he hit the ground."

Starkiller was shocked at the amount of animosity in her voice about someone who sounded like a great Sith warrior. His eyebrow furrowed in confusion. "Why do you hate him so, if he was so great, then?"

Tara stopped abruptly and turned to him, making Starkiller almost run into her. Her pale green eyes bore into his own and he got the sense of immeasurable pain and suffering through the look she gave him.

"I killed a lot of good friends under his orders," she said. "I bloodied my hands on scores of people, innocent and otherwise. When he ordered the death of Lord Therin, I refused, so he sent her lover instead. She could have killed him but she didn't and when I saw her mercy I broke free of his influence. I don't idolize that man. You shouldn't either. Now let's go... the trail is getting cold and I need to find these droids."

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

By the time the Tatooine suns made it to the opposite horizon and had begun to set, the shadows grew, the air became cooler and more inhabitants of the planet were coming out to terrorize the two Sith as they continued their search. Tara and Starkiller trudged onward through the dune sea until they came to a ridge of rocky slopes and a valley where a number of sand people seem to use as a primary thoroughfare. The two were able to avoid most of them.

Because of the constant use of the valley they weren't able to continue tracking the movements of the droids they had been tracking for the better part of twelve standard hours. Tara thought about reporting up to Nathrrya or Captain Piett but she wasn't sure what the deal was with her friend and thought it best to leave her alone until she had good news or something to actually report.

"Hey, come look at this!"

Tara stood from her crouched position on a large boulder and followed the voice over to where Starkiller was looking through the opening in the wall of the valley. Together they entered into it and found the inner bowel of the cave to be carved and made into a living space. The grey walls were moist and it was damp and cool within the cave itself. It was a comfortable living space with only the barest necessities needed for a single person to survive. Both Tara and Starkiller rummaged through what was there but came up with nothing.

"Do you feel that?" he asked her. Tara looked around, turning slowly on the spot.

"Yeah, I do."

She took a breath and found a chair nearby. She pulled it into a corner and sat on it, facing the majority of the cavern and the entrance point. Starkiller looked at her confused but she held up her hand to silence him. She sat and straightened herself and closed her eyes. She concentrated on the sensation of the Force that seemed to be flowing within the cavern. A Force user had lived here for a long time and his essence permeated the place.

Tara attuned herself to the signature of the Force user. Concentrating on the ebb and flow of the power she allowed it to come into her. Carefully she picked the memories that were instilled in the energy waves. She opened her eyes to a grey and white world with a gold edge. It was an old trick she learned while on Voss. She was able to separate herself from her physical form and, like normal, she got up and walked around while her body remained perfectly seated.

She saw Starkiller watching her spectral image, utterly amazed, as Tara looked around. The memories showed her an elderly man with a white beard and kind blue eyes. He was conversing with a younger man, no older than eighteen, but she could barely hear what they were saying.

But she saw the two droids she had been looking for. She moved her spectral image closer to the old man and concentrated hard on his lips, trying to read them. As the two humans spoke she was able to get the words off the younger man.

She snapped back into her human body and she jumped up, startling the other Sith. She pulled out her communicator and turned it to the right frequency.

"This is Lord Synge to the Accuser," she said. "The droids are being taken to Mos Espa. They are accompanied by two males, one older with white hair and a beard, the other a younger man, sandy blond hair and blue eyes. One of them is a Force user - they're attempting to depart the planet. I'm on my way now."

She cut off the communicator and indicated for Starkiller to follow. The two rushed out of the cavern and hurried back the way they came to get to Tara's speeder. Without stopping the two mounted and took off in a dash towards the mentioned space port city.

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

In the city of Mos Eisley, it was swarming with Imperial Stormtroopers and it was clear they were looking for something or someone. The locals didn't want to know any more than that. Owen and Beru Lars exchanged concerned glances as they hadn't been expecting this large of a presence, only the regular planetary garrison. They had soon learned there was a Star Destroyer in orbit and that's where the bulk of the extra Stormtroopers had come from. The two moisture farmers hoped that Old Ben's plan worked.

As they walked, Owen saw someone point in their direction and watched as a squad of four Stormtroopers briskly walked over to them. The one in the lead addressed them. "Owen and Beru Lars?"

The old farmer nodded slowly. "Yes, what can I do for you, sir?"

"It's more a case of what you can do for Lord Therin, sir." The lead trooper replied.

"Lord Therin?" Beru was alarmed at hearing mention of the woman's name. She put her hand on her husband's arm. "Sir, we're simple moisture farmers. What could she possibly need us for?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the trooper replied with an apologetic tone. "My orders were simply to locate the two of you and bring you before Lord Therin aboard the Accuser. Whatever she needs to see you for or why is way above my pay grade."

Owen sighed, taking his wife's hand. He squared his shoulders and looked at the Stormtrooper right in the face. "Very well... lead the way."

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

The one trooper led Owen and Beru through the hallways of the Accuser once they made it to the ship. They arrived at Lord Therin's private office, which was located off the main bridge.

"My Lord, we have the two moisture farmers here you wished to see." The trooper ushered the two into the office and Nathrrya stood to greet them. She had a small but friendly smile on her face when she saw her guests. "Very good, Corporal. You're dismissed."

"Yes my Lord!" The trooper saluted his commanding officer as he and his small squad turned and left, leaving the Lars with the Sith woman.

Nathrrya indicated two chairs for her guest and they inched towards them, their eyes not one leaving her. In Nathrrya's mind he understood why these people would be wary of her. Had she been a non-Force user she would feel the same way. Once they were seated Nathrrya punched a few buttons on the computer console before her and a holovid started up.

"What the two of you are going to see is a little… unpleasant. But please bear with me." She activated the holo projector and the white light took on the visual of a squad of scout troopers that had been sent to the Lars' farm. Captain Piett had used his initiative to gather this information for Lord Therin and she found it very interesting, indeed. The farm was destroyed and the footage she played was from the cameras that were installed on squad troopers helms.

It took several minutes for the footage to finish playing and Beru gasped when she saw the skeletal remains, charred and completely indistinguishable. Nathrrya eyed the two.

"When I saw this," she said, sitting down, "I was intrigued. I asked, 'Why would someone go to so much trouble to attack your farm, make it seem like an Imperial attack, and make it seem like the two of you perished in it?' Let's face it, I know full well I had no ground forces anywhere near any of the moisture farms… least of all yours."

She watched the couple as both looked down or away from her. She could tell they were scared but before either of them could answer, her comm unit beeped, indicating an incoming call. She pressed the button. "Yes, Captain… what is it?"

" _My Lord,_ " he said, " _Lord Synge reported. She found a lead on the droids and tracked them to Mos Espa. They are in the company of a young man and an older gentleman and look to be seeking passage off world. She will apprehend the droids in about a standard half hour_."

"Damn it, Piett," she said. "We're so close!" The woman looked at the two moisture farmers and frowned. Piett wasn't aware of the new orders she was directly given by the emperor himself. She let out a long litany of curses that made Beru blush in embarrassment as looked towards her husband. The man on the intercom described who she thought to be Old Ben and her nephew. A woman was never heard saying such words.

She hit the button on her intercom. "New orders, Captain. Recall our troops and make ready for lightspeed towards the Death Star. I'll inform Lord Synge myself. It'll be up to the planetary garrison to apprehend them, if they can manage it. And Piett… arrange guest quarters for the Lars."

There was a slight hesitation over the speaker. " _My lord?_ " the captain asked curiously.

The Sith rolled her eyes. "The Lars are guests," she said, "and we shall treat them as such. Did you really think that I was going to toss them in the brig?"

" _Understood, my lord!_ " Piett replied before the comm. shut off.

"So like Quinn, it's scary." Nathrrya said softly, even so the Lars heard her.

Next she got on to her personal comm. to contact Tara. "Lord Synge, this is Lord Therin."

" _This is Lord Synge, Nat did you get my message_?"

"Yes Tara I did, however you're not going to like what I'm about to say. Break off pursuit at once and return to the ship." Nathrrya told her friend.

There was a long moment of apparently stunned silence. Nathrrya could almost see Tara's blank stare before the storm.

" _...What!?_ "

"Conflicting orders again," Nathrrya said. "The old prune on Coruscant has seen fit to turn us into a glorified shuttle service and that's not the worst of it. I'll tell you the rest once you're back aboard." Nathrrya heard a snort of amusement and knew it wasn't from Tara.

" _Son of a Bantha! What is Palpy trying to do, sabotage his own empire?_ " Tara asked.

"It makes you wonder with some of the orders he's been giving lately and tell Sparkle Star he's on his own, whatever he's up to."

" _Nerfwench._ " Starkiller said not hiding his dislike for the older Sith woman.

"That's 'Second-in-Command Nerfwench to you, buster. And I expect you to return Lord Synge in the same condition that you found her in, am I understood?"

" _Yes._ "

Nathrrya was grinning "Yes... _what_?"

" _Yes, my lord_."

"That's better. We'll make a Sith out of you yet." With that Nathrrya shut off her comm. Link and looked to the shocked expressions on the Lars' faces with a beaming smile on her own. "He's so much fun to tease!"

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

Tara was livid. She had obliterated her communicator and it was scattered at her feet in the sand as she and Starkiller stood about a hundred yards from the spaceport she reported she was going towards. She didn't know how she felt about the orders she just got but if she had any inkling about how Nathrrya felt then it was a given that she was just as pissed about the situation.

Palpatine was going to collapse the Empire. That was just the truth of it. She had been under his command for about six months and she and Nathrrya both could just tell that the whole galaxy was in ruins and there was just no stopping the dwindling spiral. Palpatine's sanity was wracking the galaxy left, right and center and Tara felt that he's going to go down hard and bring the galaxy with him in one final show of complete insanity. She looked over to Starkiller, who was still brooding about being called "Sparkle Star".

"I take back what I said," she told him. "Palpy is Baras reincarnated. He's sick, twisted and I bet you a million credits he has a network of spies . I'm not joking, if he sends any of his cronies against me or Nat, he's finished. And if your master knew what's good for him, he'd break free."

Starkiller looked at her dumbfounded. He then shook his head and grinned in disbelief. "I guess you know who my master is."

"It's not hard to figure out," she huffed. She got onto her speeder and started it up. "The spaceport it that way. Get your own shuttle back. I'm going back to my ship." She turned and sped off back the way they came almost fifteen hours later.

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

Two standard hours of travelling and another half an hour in the air brought Tara into the docking bay of the Accuser. Once her ship was docked and in the hands of the maintenance crew she stalked off her ship through the hangar door and everyone got out of her way fast. Her eyes were sharp and some thought they glowed but she was only seething the Force around her and not through her eyes. Ensigns and troopers got out of her way as she hurried down the many passages until she made it to Nathrrya's private office. The door hissed open and then closed as soon as she was inside. She turned and slammed her hand down on the locking pad and the green light turned red. No one was going to disturb them.

"Nat, I'm getting so pissed off with all of the yanking and tugging by that son of a bantha. Spast! Does Palpy know he's screwing his empire up? Or does he just not care? I swear, it's just like Baras all over again. If that's the case, I'm going to go and kill everyone on this ship right now."

"Tara, calm down. I know you're upset and I'm not so pleased about it either." Nathrrya sat back in her chair and sighed but said nothing more. Tara took a moment to breathe and calm herself down.

"Those droids... I know they have to be the ones with the Death Star schematics. Honestly, if that man and boy were part of the Alliance and I was pulled away from having to capture them, then good. Maybe they can destroy that abomination."

"That's what I'm hoping," Nathrrya confirmed, her eyes closed and her hands rubbing at her face. She felt exhausted. "Blast, I'm tired. I'm going to put you in charge for the next twelve hour shift. There's four hours left. Why don't you go eat, bathe and rest and take over on the Bridge so I can just... just... ugh."

The older Sith grimaced after a moment and then looked at her female companion. "Tara, I might as well tell you now. Palpy's orders are to take the Princess to the Death Star so Tarkin can interrogate her about the stolen schematics." Tara noticed that Nathrrya rolled her eyes at the idea of Tarkin trying anything out of the princess. The older Sith knew it wouldn't work. "The best part is I have to follow Tarkin's orders. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"

Tara gave her friend a sorrowful look. "I don't envy you. I'd end up killing him… along with the rest of the Death Star crew. Not to mention your own crew here on this ship. Thank the Force for Piett. He needs to be commended."

Nathrrya raised her eyebrows in agreement. She knew well enough that her crew didn't do well when Tara was in command of the Bridge while she was off duty for much needed, and deserved, rest and relaxation. Captain Piett was a star when it came to keeping the crew under control and there was a very low mortality rate when that was the case. But Tara was still learning to handle large groups of people. Her only incident of this was when she was on her way to Dromund Kaas from Korriban and she was aboard the Black Talon. Tara ended up killing the captain, otherwise she never got the chance to do those types of missions before their incident with Arcann. Nathrrya never acknowledged it, but she was Tara's unofficial master and she her unofficial apprentice.

Tara watched her friend for a moment but her mind still buzzed about the change of orders. "I need pie." She turned and left her friend alone.

There was a soft snort. "You always need pie."

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

On the swamp world of Dagobah, Jedi Master Yoda opened his eyes after a long mediation session. He was sitting on an old tree root and off to the side was the spectre of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.

"Change everything has," Yoda said. "Discovered the twins shall be."

"Then the Sith will win." Jinn responded.

Yoda closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "Never said that, I did. Listening you were not. The future, always in motion it is. Change everything, the two ancient Sith will."

"But for good or ill?"

"Unknown that is. Vader's destiny no longer certain is. Wait we must."

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

"Captain Quinn!"

Nathrrya was in a tizzy. She came barrelling out of her office onto the bridge of the Accuser. Captain Firmus Piett turned to his superior with a surprised look on his face. There was also a bit of confusion as he hadn't been aware of any name change.

"Excuse me, my lord?" he asked uncertain. At his query he saw the last thing he expected to see: Nathrrya burying her face into her hands and groaning a slew of Huttese curses. She took a moment and looked up at the man.

"I called you 'Captain Quinn', didn't I, Piett?"

"Er… yes, my lord. You did." He was silent for a moment. "Are you alright, my lord?"

"I'm more tired than I thought," she muttered, attempting to stifle a yawn. "You remind me of him, Piett…" -her eyes swept over the bridge- "...but this is not the place to have that conversation. Lord Synge is taking over the next shift. Set a course for the Death Star, maximum velocity, and don't let her kill anyone or have anyone give her a reason to." With that, she turned on her heel and left the bridge with a very baffled captain in her wake.

"What do you suppose that was about, Firmus?" Navigator Pressly asked as he came to stand alongside his friend.

"I don't know Charles." The Captain replied, scratching the side of his face. "We know almost nothing about her past."

"True." Pressly said. "If you remind her of this Captain Quinn the it has to be someone she's served with… or was an old flame, perhaps?"

The look that Piett gave his chief navigator said that the conversation was over, though it did make him wonder.


	3. 3 - Reminiscence

**EPISODE IV - CHAPTER THREE**

"Piett, how much longer before the shift is over?"

"Eleven standard hours, my Lord."

Tara sighed. She hated being in charge, even if it was during the night hours and the entire ship was relatively quiet for the most part. Very few things happened of consequence and she was grateful for that. Then there was Captain Piett who normally held things together. Tara often wondered when the man slept himself.

"I'm going to the training room," she said, getting up from the chair she had been lounging in on the bridge. She stretched, much to the delight of some of the single men in the area, and Piett cleared his throat and looked away. "If anything happens, let me know. Don't, under any circumstances, disturb Nathrrya. She needs her rest."

"Yes, my Lord," the captain said. He watched her leave through the doors and he glanced over at Pressly. He frowned. "Charles, don't you have a wife?"

"A man can dream, Firmus."

Piett snorted. "I suppose that's true - just don't let your wife or Lord Synge catch you dreaming. You may not live through the experience."

The man slapped his friend's shoulder with a small smile before he went over to his captain's chair and sat. The last thing he said actually got him thinking. Neither Lord Synge nor Lord Therin seemed to show much interest in the other sex. If they did, the two women didn't openly show it. There had been a couple of times that Lord Synge had flirted with a few unsuspecting ensigns but he never heard or came across any kind of activity of a sensual or sexual behavior.

Piett had been interested in old Sith history for some time. From the study he'd done in the past there hadn't been very much in the way of relationships. He came across the Jedi information of no attachments, but there was nothing like that for the Sith. In truth, it looked like sexual orientation and preference depended on the individual person. He had seen the two women sitting together in the galley not that long ago. He was too far away to hear what they were saying but he did catch Lord Synge smiling at a memory. The man wondered if there was something more going on between the two women than met the eye, but Lord Therin's recent slip-up made him have his doubts.

Then an outlandish and unsuspecting thought crossed the captain's mind. What if Lord Therin was interested in… him? Firmus Piett, native of Axxila, was truthfully terrified at the prospect.

He swallowed hard and tried to occupy his mind with something else.

 **. . .**

Tara took a deep breath in, held it for a moment, and let it out. She did this several times and tried to recall Nathrrya's instructions in it. It was an old Jedi calming technique she had learn from her cousin back in the day.

She wasn't so calm when she remembered that. She lost her concentration and had fallen out of her hovering meditation position and landed hard on the floor. She groaned as her rear end began to throb from the impact before she sat up and sat there, legs crossed, and she leaned forward to drop her face into her hands. She rubbed her face and looked around her at the large space, devoid of anyone, human or alien.

The place was silent, but her mind replayed the voices of all those she had come into contact with.

" _Peace is a lie…"_ her former master said. She frowned when she saw the image of his masked face in her mind's eye. Darth Baras deserved what he got.

" _She let me live, Tara,"_ Quinn had told her. She almost couldn't believe it. " _She could have killed me, but she didn't. If you knew what was wise, you would join her. It's only a matter of time before Baras does the same to you."_

" _I am very capable of donning a soldier's uniform, Lieutenant,"_ she argued with Pierce. He only shook his head.

" _No, my Lord. There will be Jedi there that may sense your presence and blow our cover. But we will let you know what happens in the end."_

She liked Pierce. When Nathrrya refused to have the hulking soldier follow her off Belsavis Tara offered to have him tag along with her instead. The man was just grateful to get off that rock. She couldn't blame him.

" _There's something about you I can't put my finger on."_ Tara smiled and closed her eyes. Clear as day she could see him, war staff secured on his shoulder and his armor beaten and battered with use. His hair was sandy blond, his eyes were blue. She let herself be wrapped in the memory…

" _I get that a lot," she told him, wringing out the cloth and applying it to the hefty burn on his chest. The man hissed and threw his head back against the furs he was laying on. Tara frowned at him. "Hold still, will ya?"_

 _They narrowly escaped a siege that swept through the forests of Dromund Kaas. She sustained minor injuries but the Mandalorian that was before her bravely took a head-on hit for the woman. The hunter was lucky to be alive. She wiped away the blood and carefully peeled off the dead skin, much to his discomfort, but she was as gentle as she could be. She pulled a syringe of kolto from her medpac and carefully injected it around the burn sight._

" _You know, Torian," she said, "you and I need to stop meeting like this. Every time we get together, one or both of us end up bleeding."_

" _Yeah well… I'd rather bleed if it means I get to see you more."_

 _The woman stopped what she was doing and looked at him. He was blushing… at least she thought he was blushing. She didn't know if it was from embarrassment or from the fact that he was hurt. She still couldn't help but smile and he seemed to relax under her hands when he saw it. "If I didn't know better, Mandalorian, I'd think you're flirting with me."_

" _Four months of running into one another on and off, I think we're past the point of flirting." He was beginning to feel better from the kolto. So much better that he leaned up and came really close to the woman. She stopped working on him and just let her hand rest on his leg as he moved closer. She wanted to move away, something in her mind telling her that this was not what a warrior did. She felt peaceful with him so near, but peace was a lie, wasn't it?_

" _I thought your kind didn't crossbreed… I'm not a Mandalorian."_

 _His response was a hand running through her hair and bringing her forehead against his in a tender touch. Torian felt a shudder go through him as he looked at her intensely green eyes. They seemed so unnatural, but he'd never been with a Sith. Perhaps it was her power that intensified the color of her eyes. With her pale skin and black hair, it made her look exotic and intimidating._

" _No, but that doesn't mean I can't teach you." He angled his head and caught her lips in his. The touch was natural and felt right. One thing led to another._

Tara was jolted from her memory when her comm link went off. She'd felt something wet on her cheeks and she wiped away the tears that had formed and run down her face. Even her chest was wet from them. She cursed and cleared her throat.

"This is Lord Synge," she said. "What is it, Captain?"

" _My Lord, there is a Galen Marek on the holo for you."_

Tara frowned. Who the hell was that? "I'll be right there."

She got up and took a moment to try and bury those memories. As hard as it was she couldn't fully rid herself of Torian. The love the two of them shared was the first proof that the Sith Code was unworkable. The peace she felt with him was not a lie.

Tara composed herself and left the training room and returned to the bridge. Captain Piett was given the instructions to send the link to her personal terminal within her quarters. She closed the doors and turned it on. The image sparked for a moment and before she knew it, she was staring at Starkiller.

"What the…?"

" _Is this a bad time?"_ he asked, an amused smirk on his face. " _You look terrible."_

 **. . .**

In her own quarters, Nathrrya tried to fall asleep but she couldn't. Her mind was still far too active. Why in the Force had she called Piett, Quinn? It wasn't like her to slip up like that...

The woman let out a resigned sigh. Both men were just too similar to one another in like and manner. Their speech patterns, their mannerisms, their excellent level of professionalism. Nathrrya could recall the aftermath of Quinn's assassination attempt. She'd felt utterly betrayed in the worst way possible. She couldn't help but close her eyes as she remembered it...

 _The man was on his knees, beaten down by her skill. She was seething hatred and pain as she looked upon him. One question burned in her mind. "Why, Quinn?"_

 _He looked up at her, clearly she was superior in the moment. "Baras is, as you know, very persuasive my lord. I had no real choice."_

 _She ground her teeth and Quinn could hear it. It made his stomach churn horribly._

" _Part of me wants to kill you Quinn, but I can't bring myself to do it." The man was clearly puzzled by her statement. His mouth had run dry and he swallowed, trying to keep his reserve._

" _If I may ask, my lord… but why don't you? I've clearly breached the trust you and I had once had."_

 _Nathrrya lowered her head and took a moment before she looked at him, tears threatening. "Because I still love you." He watched the sad smile cross her lips and a single drop slipped down her cheek. Just one. "Quinn, if you had truly wanted to betray me, all you had to do was tell Baras my best kept secret."_

 _Realization had dawned in the captain's blue eyes. "Your Jedi cousin."_

 _She nodded. "Yes. My Jedi cousin, my lineage, my family. Very few people know this, you included. If you had told him about my family I would have been dead in very short order."_

 _Captain Quinn had stumbled up to his feet by then. He had an arm over his abdomen while his hand held onto his side. Something had to have been snapped, broken or lightly fractured - his ribs hurt. But he bit through the pain. But despite that, he smiled knowingly._

" _That's why you refused Lieutenant Pierce and killed that deranged Talz on Hoth."_

 _She nodded affirmation. "Only you, Vette and Jaesa know this. You're the only three I trust with this secret."_

Needless to say things had severely changed on her ship. She no longer allowed Quinn into her personal quarters. She had Vette and Jaesa watch him like hawks after a kill. There was no way she was going to allow him to take the chance of telling anyone else. Plus, at the time she knew that Darth Baras had taken another apprentice and was gearing her up to come after her and possibly Quinn. But it turned out Quinn had known the younger woman, having been a pawn in Baras' plans the whole time.

Quinn had convinced Tara that Baras wasn't all he was cracked up to be. The young girl never had a family for real and somehow Quinn had become somewhat of a father figure to the young Sith warrior. When Quinn told Tara of being spared by Nathrrya, he made it clear that Baras was out to destroy them all when they were no longer useful. At the time, Tara had recently entered a relationship with a young Mandalorian. He'd been targeted and that was enough for Tara to defect and become another of Nathrrya's allies. The only problem was that Pierce had been taken in by Tara and added to her crew. However, Nathrrya learned that Tara had a way with dealing with Pierce and he was just as loyal to her as Vette was to Nathrrya.

The Sith woman smiled and thought back to when she had told Tara. The younger Sith had difficulty with controlling her anger and emotions. Nathrrya instructed her on several ways she could calm her body and her mind if it had become too much. Once Tara had mastered one of the several she was learning, Nathrrya nonchalantly told her how she came to learn them herself.

"You learned these from a _Jedi_?" Tara asked, completely bewildered.

Nathrrya nodded, adding a mischievous smirk into the mix. "Yes, my cousin."

Tara's reaction had been… unexpected. Nathrrya knew that the younger Sith was certainly pro-Empire and anti-Republic. There had been several occasions she had seen where Tara would go out of her way to kill every Jedi she came across, whether it was warranted or not. Needless to say it bothered the older Sith woman and had been nervous telling the truth to her. But Tara had taken it in very good form.

"Well," she had said. "I guess this means I'm not going to randomly kill any more Jedi for a while."

"That's not what I said,"Nathrrya stated. "Besides, he's the Hero of Tython. He'd destroy you if you tried."

The redhead scowled and her mood worsened as she thought about her cousin. It made her think to what happened to the Jedi in this galaxy. Many of them were slaughtered like they were animals and it was done by animals. She had no other way to describe the massacre of the Jedi by the hands of the clone army. As a Sith, she supposed she should have been happy about it, but in truth it made her sick. Every time she came across one of the Stormtroopers she felt an unease. A lot of them were the same clones from that time period, nearly twenty years prior. General Crix Madine, leader of her Stromtrooper Legion, however, had set her straight about the clones. The last clones had been retired about four years prior and what she heard had been a myth that Palpatine didn't bother to correct. The only reason being that the troopers were not as unswervingly loyal as they had been portrayed to be.

Nathrrya strongly suspected that the General had rebel sympathies. He'd passed information to them several times - she was certain of it. Even so, he was a brilliant commander and tactician. Madine's rebel connections might prove useful once she, and possibly Vader, had with dealt with old Palpy.

She rolled over onto her side and let out a sigh, trying to get comfortable. She really needed to get some rest but it wasn't coming easy to her. She needed to if she was going to face off against Grand Moff Tarkin, otherwise she would end up accidentally Force choking the man if he opened his mouth and it wouldn't be her fault if she did. The idea of killing the man gave her some nice images of every painful possible way she could dispatch him. She smiled. Maybe she could get some sleep after all…

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

Tara returned from her personal chambers and entered the Bridge. There was a slight smile on her face when she looked over at Captain Piett. He looked up, feeling like he was being watched, and saw the younger Sith woman approaching. He went to stand, as was proper to meet a superior officer, but she held up her hand, indicating he didn't have to. The woman took the empty seat beside him at the console he was working on.

"My Lord, if I may say, you look rather pleased." Tara's smile widened and her eyes weren't as intense, but they were still vibrantly green.

"Let's just say I had a pleasant three hour conversation." Piett raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a mild look. Tara cocked her head at him and then shook it, chuckling. "Damn, Piett, I can see why Nat thinks you remind her a lot about Quinn. You're practically identical to him."

There was a confusion thrown across Piett's dark eyes. "Who is this 'Quinn' you keep referencing? I must say I'm rather baffled how I could remind you of him."

Tara chuckled again and lounged back in her chair. A few of the ensigns on the bridge turned their attention to her and Piett threw a disapproving look towards each one of them. Lord Synge didn't seem to care but he wasn't about to lose control of his crew.

"Lieutenant Malavai Quinn was an Imperial Officer stationed on Balmorra a long time ago," Tara said. "Nat was on mission there from our master, Darth Baras, and that's when she met him. I knew him prior to that by about three years, before I was even accepted for Sith training. He was… well, he was like a father figure to me when I had no family." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her head back to look up at the bare ceiling of the bridge. "I trusted Quinn with my life and he did have that kind of fatherly care towards me. He had been one of Baras' pawns, though, and it was a strategic placement because Nat granted him a place on her crew after she left Balmorra. In her employment he achieved the rank of Captain and was captain of her ship, the _Violet Rose_ for a good while."

Piett didn't realize he'd been leaning forward ever so slightly as the young woman spoke. His interest piqued as he continued to listen. But he shuddered when he heard the name of the ship. Tara caught this and laughed. "Quinn had the same reaction! You could only imagine his horrified look when she had her Fury painted a pale violet color. The man just about had an aneurysm, much to Vette's entertainment. Quinn had always been very snobbish and professional, even around me, and I've called him 'Daddy' on numerous occasions."

"He adopted you?"

"He almost did. It was never official because I ended up in the Sith Academy under Baras' tutelage. I learned a lot from him, but then I learned how paranoid the man was. Everywhere I went I found spies and moles that belonged to him and every person had some kind of debt to the monster… including Quinn. Somewhere along the line I was given a falsity, that Nathrrya was going to kill Quinn. Baras wanted her dead, so Quinn would always give me tips on where they were going and I would send one of Baras' pets to go and kill her, but they failed each and every time."

Piett watched as Tara's eyes seemed to go distant, like she was looking at her memories. The man couldn't help but feel whatever she was experiencing, and it was sad. Tara cleared her throat and continued. "Baras ordered Quinn to assassinate Nathrrya. He knew at that moment that it was prime because Nat wouldn't expect her lover to betray her like that, not that Baras knew the two of them were in love. It damn near broke his heart and it destroyed hers."

The captain dropped his jaw and was taken back by the words coming out of her mouth. Just the fact she was sharing something so personal about Lord Therin was shocking, and part of him was afraid to know if he or she could get in trouble. Tara turned her head towards him.

"She still loves him, Piett. So when she watches you, the way you move, the way you speak, your personality, it's so freakishly like Quinn that she's reminded of him every time she comes around you. I am, too, to some degree."

Piett was struck by the woman's words. There was a sensation that he couldn't quite name but it came from the heart and it wrapped around his mind. He didn't feel sorry, he wasn't sympathetic, but there was something there that helped to make his understanding of the two women a little more real to him. Not only that but the name Darth Baras stuck out to him for some reason, like he should know who that is. It was something he would have to look into more deeply when he took his personal time.

"You… my Lord, this was enlightening…" He trailed off and wondered if he should even ask, but the idea was bothering him. "Does Lord Therin have an… interest… in me?"

Tara turned her head towards the captain and looked at him for a while. She was obviously thinking about it. "I can't say, Piett."

"Well… has she said anything about it?" Seeing Piett so nervous was rather endearing.

"Come to think of it, she has, but not directly. Remember I said she's reminded of Quinn? Honestly, if she's interested in you, then that's why. If I were you, Piett, I wouldn't acknowledge those feelings until you know she's interested in _you_ and not the memory of her lost love."

Piett blinked. That had to be the most profound thing he's heard from the young Sith warrior. Lord Synge was known for her brashness and ability to not fully think things through. She usually rushes into things and then ask questions or philosophize later. To hear that piece of advice coming from her was a little bit of an eye-opener to who the dark haired woman actually was.

He couldn't help it, he had to know. "My lord, were you ever in love?"

Tara was silent for a long time and there was a sense of fear wrapping around Piett's mind. He was worried he overstepped his bounds. But his relief came swiftly when the woman actually answered.

"So in love I learned a new culture so I could marry the man."

There was a sort of finality to her words. The conversation was done for now and Captain Piett was okay with that.

 **(-)|(-)|(-)**

 _-Tatooine, 15 Standard Hours Earlier-_

The speeder Luke and Old Ben were using came to a halt before the remains of a Jawa sandcrawler. The two humans dismounted and began to walk through the burning rubble, concerned looks on both of their faces. Luke took closer looks around the ruins.

"It looks like Sand People did this, alright," he said. "Look, there are Gaffi sticks, Bantha tracks. It's just..." Luke was baffled. "I never heard of them hitting anything this big before."

Ben crouched down and studied the tracks in the sand. He looked up and beckoned Luke over to where he was. "They didn't," he said as Luke came to his side. "But we are meant to think they did. These tracks are side by side. Sand People always ride single file to hide their numbers."

"These are the same Jawas that sold us Artoo and Threepio." Luke said with a frown as he looked at the small bodies.

"And these blast points, too accurate for Sandpeople." The old Jedi pointed out the carbon scoring on the hull of the sandcrawler. "Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise."

"Why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?" Luke asked confused, he chanced to look in the direction of his speeder to see the two droids. A sudden horrible realisation swept through the young man as he put the pieces together. "If they traced the droids here, they may have learned who they sold them to. And that would lead them... home!" Luke cried as he ran to his speeder and jumped into it.

"Wait, Luke! It's too dangerous!" Ben cried in vain as Luke raced away. The old man sighed once the boy was out of sight. _I hope my plan works and that Owen and Beru are safe._ Despite their differing opinions Owen had send the old Jedi a message telling him about hearing the sounds of lightsaber combat when they had purchased the two droids from the Jawas. Both had agreed it was time to disappear and for Luke to learn his true destiny. _Much has been sacrificed and I fear much more will before the Jedi rise again._

About an hour later, Luke came driving back to where Ben, Artoo and Threepio had been collecting the deceased Jawas and burning their bodies. Luke got off his speeder and the old Jedi went to him, placing a gentle, but firm, hand on the boy's shoulder.

"There is nothing you could have done Luke," he said. "Had you been there you certainly would have been killed too and the droids would have ended up in Imperial hands."

Luke listened with a detached frame of mind. The burnt corpses of his aunt and uncle were forever engraved in his mind's eye and it was difficult to even concentrate on what Ben was saying. He looked up at the old man and took a breath.

"There's nothing here for me, anymore," he said. "I want to come with you to Alderaan. I want to learn the way of the Force and become a Jedi like my father."

Ben only nodded. "Very well, and so it shall be. Let's get on our way."

The four companions completed their cleanup of the corpses and all headed towards Mos Eisley. Ben only hoped that whoever was trailing them were thrown off by the Force trick he had instilled in his living chambers within the ridge back in Jundland. Hopefully he gained them enough of a head start to outrun their pursuers. But the most prominent thought in his mind was of Luke.

 _Let's hope I do better by the son than I did the father._

 **. . .**

The space transport vehicle _Rogue Shadow_ was flying low over Tatooine's desert, piloted by former Imperial pilot Juno Eclipse. On board was an old, blind Jedi, General Rahm Kota and then the master of the operation, Starkiller. Juno had been steering the ship on a grid pattern as they scoured the lands for signs of the Jedi, boy and two Republic droids that the Sith upon the _Accuser_ wanted apprehended. Why Starkiller was even put on this mission was beyond her understanding as he had a separate mission altogether.

Starkiller cut off the holocommunicator terminal and smirked. Very few people in the galaxy knew his real name and now that select few included one K'natara Synge, who usually went by the name Tara in casual settings. The conversation between them had certainly been casual and most of the conversation had been about him rather than her. First and foremost he had apologized about her HK unit. The only real thing he got from her was her age - 26 - and her homeworld of Dromund Kaas. She even so much as told him about her childhood living in Kaas City before she discovered having Force powers, but she clammed up after that, so he went on a spiel about himself. It was safe to say once they finished their call, he had a much better understanding of the woman than he did when they ran into each other on Tatooine and it even looked like she was in a much better mood than when he started.

He had left the back room and came into the bridge of his ship, still grinning like an idiot.

"I hope you know what you're doing, boy," General Kota said from Galen's right. "You're getting very close to that young Sith woman. You spent three hours on the holo with her… makes me wonder what the two of you were discussing for so long as that's quite the conversation."

Galen frowned and turned to the blind Jedi master. "Just why did you want to tag along, old man?"

Kota shrugged. "Haven't seen Kenobi since the end of the Clone Wars," he said. "Is it really so hard to believe that I want to catch up with an old Jedi friend, especially since there's so few of us now?" The Jedi turned his unseeing eyes to the younger man. "And that includes you, boy, even if you don't know what or who you truly are."

Galen had to admit that Kota was right. He really didn't know if he was Sith or Jedi or something in between the two. When he had originally met the two mysterious Sith women the experience hadn't helped him in the least. Had had, however, become rather infatuated with the younger of the two Sith, Tara, and that only increased when he would keep running into her on various missions throughout the galaxy. Somehow or another they just kept ramming into one another whenever Galen went out on mission for Vader. He knew that his Master was planning to kill the Emperor and he was part of that plan, but since Lords Therin and Synge arrived, his plans have changed but his goal had not.

Juno, on the other hand, frowned at the conversation going on behind her between the two men. _He spent three hours talking to that… that skinny tart?_ Her thoughts were rather bitter. _What in the galaxy does he see in her anyway?_ The blond haired pilot felt like she was gaining Galen's affection, but all of that seemed to change with the appearance of the two Sith women that came out of nowhere. And hearing Galen speak about his encounters with Tara to General Kota were becoming a bit much. _It's "Tara" now?_ The woman let out a very low growl that couldn't be heard. She pulled the _Rogue Shadow_ into several tight maneuvers and grinned when she heard Galen's surprised yelp.

"Juno! What the kriff was that for?" he asked, mildly annoyed. The woman spun her pilot's seat around to face him with a stern look.

"One of us has to remember you have a mission - tracking old Ben Kenobi for Lord Vader. But that's only if he turns out to be Obi-Wan Kenobi like Vader and Kota think."

Galen rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright! Fine, Juno… drop me off and I'll let you know when to pick me up." He readied himself to land back on the dustbowl and wondered, irritatedly, what had gotten into the woman all of a sudden. Maybe it was her feminine cycle… and he quickly shook his head, not wanting to think about that.

 **. . .**

The landspeeder raced across the Tatooine desert and came to stop on a bluff that overlooked Mos Eisley. Artoo, Threepio, Luke and Ben all looked down at the expanse of low, grey concrete structures and semi domes. A harsh gale had swept through the canyon ground. Luke adjusted his goggles on his head and got out to walk up to where Ben had been standing on the edge looking down.

"Mos Eisley Spaceport," he said, hands on his hips. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany. We must be cautious." He looked over at Luke and the boy gave him a determined smile before the troupe headed towards the spaceport. Once there, they narrowly avoided a group of Stormtroopers and had a scuffle in one of the more seedy cantinas. After the showdown where Old Ben showed off his skills with a lightsaber, a wookie by the name of Chewbacca came to them.

Strange creatures play exotic big band music on odd-looking instruments as Luke, still giddy, downed a fresh drink and followed Ben and Chewbacca to a booth in the corner of the room. The other man sitting there already was a tough, roguish starpilot about thirty years old. He got up out of courtesy and nodded to Ben, indicating them to sit, which Luke and Ben did.

"Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon," he said by way of introduction. "Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system."

"Yes, indeed. If it's a fast ship." Ben said.

"Fast ship?" The pilot looked bewildered. "You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?"

"Should I have?" Ben replied, an eyebrow raised.

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!" Han exclaimed. The look he got from the old man said he wasn't buying. "I've outrun Imperial starships, not the local bulk-cruisers, mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you, old man. What's the cargo?"

Ben nodded, that was more believable. "Only passengers. Myself, the boy, two droids, and no questions asked."

"What is it? Some kind of local trouble?" the smuggler asked not that it really mattered to him.

"Let's just say we'd like to avoid any... Imperial entanglements." the old man replied.

"Well, that's the trick, isn't it? And it's going to cost you something extra. Ten thousand in advance." Han stated.

Luke was about to protest but Ben made a shushing motion to quiet the boy. "We haven't that much with us. But we could pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan."

"Seventeen, huh?" Han looked thoughtful as he glanced at Chewie. "Okay. You guys got yourself a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking bay Ninety-four."

"Ninety-four." The old man confirmed. The men raised their drinks but Han didn't get a chance to touch his when he looked behind his table guests.

"Looks like somebody's beginning to take an interest in your handiwork," he said nodding towards the bar.

Ben and Luke turned to see four Imperial stormtroopers looking at the aftermath of Ben's lightsaber display and asking the bartender some questions. Then the bartender pointed towards Han's booth.

"Alright, we'll check it out." One of the troopers said as they turned to the booth. The stormtroopers found that the old man and young boy were gone. Only the pilot and Wookiee remained. The troopers turned back to the bartender who shrugged his shoulders in puzzlement.

 **. . .**

Galen rushed through the hallways within the spaceport, ducking and dodging as he attempted to make his way through the crowds of incoming and outgoing aliens and humans. His was cursing in his head as he did so.

Mos Eisley! The two humans and the droids were headed to Mos Eisley, not Mos Espa, and there was a significant amount of time lost when he figured that out. Tara had misled him and she told them where they had been headed. How he was duped was beyond him and he was livid.

 _Damn that nerfwench!_

Off in the distance he could hear engines behind started and the sound of a ship beginning to hover before taking off. He moved faster and practically leaped over people, leaving them in confusion and rounded the corner just in time to see the _Millennium Falcon_ burst from the hangar into the blue skies. He slid to a halt and watched, a myriad of emotions running through him from anger to hate and to feeling like an idiot for listening to that Sith woman.

He was too late. He turned and found something and kicked it. Hard. The throb in his foot reminded him that there were other things going on around him and he didn't want to overstay his welcome. With another curse he turned and pulled out his personal comm.

"Juno, Mos Eisley Spaceport. Come get me."

" _Don't tell me that ship I just saw had our targets."_

"Yeah, it was."

 **. . .**

"How could you let them get away!" Juno was beside herself and felt very bitter. She was in the pilot's chair and directing the _Rogue Shadow_ back into space. The ship they had been after was longer on their scanners and couldn't be detected anywhere else in the immediate vicinity. A transmission came in indicating to make course for the Death Star, under Vader's orders.

Galen leff into the co-pilot's chair and had a disgruntled look on his face. Juno set the course for hyperspace and they took off before she turned back to him, her eyes indicating and waiting for an explanation. "Well?"

"Well what?" he mumbled.

"What's you're excuse?" she grilled. She didn't bother to give the man time to answer. "You're on the holo for over three hours with a woman I can't fathom how you could possibly trust, considering every time you run into her she beats the crap out of you. You run into her on Tatooine and team up and she leads you on a goose chase and then, before you know it, dupes you into a wrong turn. Now we lost our targets and you failed your mission from your master."

"Damn it, woman, get off my case!" Galen snapped and slammed his fists down on the arms of his chair. Juno was shocked out of her tirade, never seeing the Force user that worked up before. He finally got up and stalked away without another word.

Kota, who had been sitting in the same location silently, chuckled at the scene. The blond pilot turned her attention to him but decided against saying anything and turned back to the window and watched the infinite stars rush past them.

"Sensitive in the Force or not," Kota said, "the two of you are still human and human anatomy still reigns when it comes to hormones." The older Jedi snickers when he felt the spike in Juno's mood but she still remained silent.

"When we get to the Death Star, you and I are staying on this ship." That was the only thing Juno said to the other man. He only nodded. Now was a good time to take a nap.

 **. . .**

 _-Star Destroyer,_ Accuser - _Present-_

The massive imperial warship returned to real space in a flash of light. In the distance was the Death Star - a behemoth that looked more like a moon than anything else. It remained in the same system where it had been built in utmost secrecy, but somehow the Rebellion had figured out its existence. Captain Firmus Piett grimaced seeing the battle station growing larger as they neared it.

"The Death Star… Lord Therin detests that thing almost as much as the man who is in charge of it." It was an offhand remark but it was something he learned very quickly when she was posted as his commanding officer. She just hated everything about the Emperor's superweapon.

Tara was standing beside him and nodded in agreement. "I'm not too fond of it either," she said. She turned to the man beside her. "Captain, it was meant to do one thing. Nat and I have both seen our fair share of superweapons and in our experience, the best thing anyone can do with them is just blow them to pieces."

Piett looked at her and wondered how the two women could have experienced other superweapons. The only one that was ever mentioned by either woman was something known as the Silencer. In his off time he would research ancient lore and the only mention of the Silencer he found was back during the great Galactic War… four thousand years ago. It was a wonder that there were even records of it in his time. Piett didn't comment or say anything about it. The last thing he wanted to do was overstep his bounds with the two women mostly because he respected them for their leadership and capabilities and their outward spoken mindset.

The younger Sith woman sighed. "Captain, you better go wake Lord Therin and let her know we've arrived at the Death Star. I'll ready the transport. She's going to be thrilled, I know it."

"Right away, my Lord." Piett took two backward steps away from Tara and turned to announce their arrival to his commanding officer.

Tara crossed her arms over her chest and put her gaze on the superweapon. _Force only knows what Tarkin is going to do to the princess to get her to talk. Force be with her._

* * *

 **Author's Note: [Rant] I just want to make it known that I _really_ hate action scenes. Even if they're short. Ugh... I need to expand my vocabulary of verbs and adverbs to make them less redundant. [End Rant]**


	4. 4 - Unto Dust

**EPISODE IV - CHAPTER FOUR**

Captain Piett made his way toward Lord Therin's quarters. As he did so, he thought back to everything that the dark haired Sith woman said about his commanding officer. IN the six months that they had been there, the same amount of time he dealt directly with Lord Therin, the man realized he didn't know a bloody thing about her personally. In that amount of time one would usually learn a few personal tidbits about the people you work under - likes and dislikes, foibles and other things. But this was the first real look into Lord Therin's life that he had ever had since she came aboard the _Accuser._

He made it to the door of her quarters and went in, noting that the door just swished open without protest or having been locked. He was surprised that he had been able to enter so easily. Had she been so tired the night before that she just forgot to lock up? It was a worrying thought. "My lord?"

"Just a moment, Piett." Nathrrya's voice came from the fresher just before the door opened and she stepped out pulling on her usual dark green leather jacket. The captain, for some reason, couldn't help but stare even though he'd become quite used to both her and Tara's choice of clothing style. It also could have been the mental connotation that Lord Therin was not long finished with her morning shower. Either way, the man forced himself to look in another direction.

She sighed. "I didn't secure my door last night, did I?"

"No, my lord. That appears to be the case."

"Damn the Emperor and damn his hulking metal ball of scrap." She looked over at her captain as she walked to her desk and tapped a few of the buttons on the comm. unit. "I take it we've arrived?"

"Indeed we have my lord."

She nodded and turned her attention to the communicator. "General Madien, see to the transfer of Captain Antilles and Princess Organa to the Death Star. And General, if _any_ of Tarkin's lackeys make your life difficult direct them to _me_." Nathrrya had a knack in dealing with self important officers.

" _Understood, my lord."_ The general replied before the comm. shut off.

Nathrrya now turned back to her captain "How are the Lars holding up?"

"Quite well considering that neither have been on a starship in many years, much less a military one." Piett took his normal professional stance and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Good," she said. "I'm certain they're hiding something but it can wait, I've got that delightful child Tarkin to deal with and his overgrown toy."

Captain Piett did his best to hide a smile at her scathing contempt of the man in question. Lord Therin really did enjoy insulting Grand Moff Tarkin and the Death Star in every possible way she could think of and each time became more and more creative on her part.

The woman took a moment and studied her soft spoken officer for a time, and clearly it was beginning to make the man uncomfortable. "Tara told you, didn't she?"

"My lord?" The pitch indicated Piett was clearly confused by her question.

"Your mental shields are impressive for a non-Force sensitive, Captain," she said. She turned from her desk and leaned her hips against it. "Most of the time I have no idea what you're thinking. But at the moment you're practically screaming the name 'Malavai Quinn'. Therefore Tara has told you about him."

Piett nodded. "She has, my lord, though I'm uncertain if she revealed too much."

Nathrrya lowered her head and thought this over as she pulled her lower lip into her mouth to chew on it thoughtfully. "If I know Tara she's given you a very condensed version of events which would include the fact that Quinn and I were lovers and he tried to kill me."

The Captain swallowed. For some reason he was feeling really warm and perhaps it was just the room… or him… it had to be the room. "Yes, my lord, that's correct."

Nathrrya smirked, seeing the man sweat. "Relax, Firmus you look like a man holding a live thermal detonator and don't know what to do with it." She chuckled. "You may remind me of Quinn but I know that you're not him." Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she took a few steps towards the captain. "Now that I think of it, I don't believe I've ever inspected your quarters now have I Piett?" There was something playful and teasing in her words.

"My... my lord?" Piett was truly baffled.

The Sith just smiled playfully as she walked past her captain swaying her hips as she did so. All Firmus Piett could do was turn and openly stare wondering what had just taken place.

 **. . .**

Eight Imperial admirals and generals were seated around a black conference table. They were busy talking amongst themselves as they waited for Grand Moff Tarkin and Lord Nathrrya Therin to arrive. Admiral Motti and General Tagge were in their own discussion.

"Until this battle station is fully operational we are vulnerable," General Tagge argued. "The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize."

Admiral Motti had his own opinions of the other man and his own thoughts were more towards just wanting to get the Death Star into use to show the galaxy that you don't mess with the Empire. One just doesn't. "General, they would be dangerous to the Imperial Starfleet… but not this battle station!"

Tagge shook his head in disbelief "The Rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate as long as..."

Suddenly the door to the conference room opened and all heads turned as Grand Moff Tarkin, governor of the Imperial outland regions, entered. Following just behind was Lord Therin and going by the scowl on her face the Sith Lord was none too happy to be there. It was no secret that they despised each other for their views on ruling the Empire were as far apart as two people could be and still be on the same side.

"The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us," Tarkin announced. "I've just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the Senate permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away." Tarkin took his seat at the head of the table but there was some murmuring going on from the others. Tagge was the most outspoken one of the group. The news just made his job much harder and he was clearly appalled.

"What!? That's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?"

Tarkin smiled evilly and Nathrrya made a mental note that the man looked like a shrivelled prune when he did that. "The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line - fear of this battle station."

Nathrrya rolled her eyes and give Tarkin a look that said he was dumb to think that fear alone would work. In her experience it usually had the opposite effect.

Tagge had to suppress a smile when he saw the Sith's reaction to the Grand Moff's statement. "And what of the Rebellion?" he asked. "If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical readout of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness and exploit it."

"The plans you refer to, General Tagge, will soon be back in our hands." Nathrrya spoke for the first time. The notion was reassuring to all of the men present but it was mostly for Tarkin's ears. For all she knew this was just a fool's mission and she wanted to be done with it.

"Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained!" Admiral Motti preened. "This station is now the ultimate power in the universe. I suggest we use it!" The man seemed to think the Death Star as an infant and he the proud father of such an upstanding child.

It took everything in Nathrrya's reserve to keep from snorting a rebuttal that would be regretted later, not that she would care. But the man did rub her the wrong way.

"Don't be too proud of this... technological terror you've constructed, Admiral." Nathrrya growled as she began to walk around the table to where the pompous man was sitting. "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force."

The round-faced man that was Motti looked up at the woman defiantly. "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Therin. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data disks, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebel's hidden fort-"

Motti began to choke suddenly. He wasn't able to take a breath in and he clawed at his neck trying to do away with whatever barrier was in the way. Both Tarkin and Tagge watched in morbid fascination as they saw an evil smile cross Lord Therin's lips, her eyes turning yellow and her hand raised and made into a fist.

"Really, Admiral... I find your lack of faith... disturbing." Her tone was ominous.

"Enough of this!" Tarkin snapped. "Therin, release him!" _I really don't want to train up another underling._

The redhead glanced at Tarkin a moment. She didn't want to acknowledge that she heard the man but she did. "As... you... wish." She dropped her hand and Motti fell forward onto the table, gasping for air. She walked back to where she had been standing, behind Tarkin and out of his view.

"This bickering is pointless," Tarkin said. "Lord Therin will provide us with the location of the Rebel fortress by the time this station is operational. We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke."

Tagge saw the woman shake her head in disbelief if Tarkin thought it was going to be that easy.

 **. . .**

"Tarkin wants me to do _what_?"

Nathrrya and Tara were standing in their quarters upon their X-87A Phantom within the Death Star docking bay. There was no way in space the two women were going to take bunks on that abomination. Nathrrya had a longer meeting with the generals and admirals before she was dismissed with orders that she needed to forward to her unofficial apprentice. Nathrrya was scowling the whole time but she needed to tell the younger woman.

"They want you to torture the princess to get the location of where the stolen schematics are, as well as the location of the Rebel base." Nathrrya was chewing her bottom lip and convulsively clenching her fists, trying to keep herself calm as she used her cousin's breathing techniques. "Not like it's going to work or anything."

"Spast it, Nat, I haven't done that in… a long time. I really don't want to either." Tara was not thrilled with torture missions. When Overseer Tremmel sent her to question three captives within the prison of the Sith Academy she pretty much let them all go and killed one of them, but only because he attacked her. Openly torturing someone did not sit well with her any more than a Kowakian Monkey-lizard did.

"And I'm not going to let you, either," Nathrrya finally said, turning her attention to the younger woman. "I need to have a chat with the princess, anyway. I might as well say I'm going to do it because you're my apprentice and nobody orders you to do anything without my approval… and I don't approve. Even if the Emperor ordered you directly."

"You think I would?"

"No, but I'm stating it for officiality." Tara's comm. unit started to beep at her side and she picked it off her utility belt and looked at it. Her face was neutral and Nathrrya only looked at her. "You going to answer that?"

"It's Sparkle Star," Tara said. She silenced the unit and returned it to her belt. "While you were resting he called me and we spoke for at least three hours." Tara smirked at the bemused reaction she gained from the redhead. "I know. I was rather surprised myself."

"What did you two talk about?"

Tara shrugged. "He apologized for scrapping HK-79 and then we just talked about almost nothing of importance. He told me about his mission and why he was on Tatooine and he swore that he wasn't stalking me, but he also said he's interested in getting to know me better. I told him about Dromund Kaas and about my upbringing, but that was all."

Nathrrya frowned. "You didn't tell him…?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, I didn't say anything about where we came from, hell I have no idea if any of these planets exist anymore." She paused for a moment, looking at the floor near Nathrrya's feet. "Nat… I've meditated on this a long time, but why are we both here? I mean, scientifically and logically, we should be dead. There was no nutrition source, no life support, nothing that would keep us alive for that long in carbonite. Realistically, we should have been dead after five years, if that."

The older Sith had thought about this herself a few times, and Tara made a decent argument about their situation. She thought back to how they even ended up in carbonite to begin with and promptly shrugged it away into the recesses of her memory. It was a time and a scenario she was not ready to deal with or think about just yet. Tara probably thought and felt the same way but at least she wanted to talk about it.

"I don't know, Tara," she finally said. "But one thing's for certain, when we fought Revan I know the two of us had a change in our views of the Force. That was the biggest point of alliance between the Empire and the Republic and it was for a cause that benefited both sides, not just one."

"I know… the 'Living Force' is what you think kept us alive."

"Right. And there is obviously something it wants us to do, so we need to do it."

"Get rid of the imbalance?" Tara asked.

"Get rid of the imbalance." Nathrrya nodded

 **. . .**

The two Sith women exited their small domestic cruiser and had parted ways on the hangar deck. While Nathrrya headed towards the detention cells, she saw that Starkiller had come to the hangar to collect Tara and take her somewhere. The older Sith could only smirk. While Tara was getting better at suppressing her emotions and not letting them scream out through the Force, Starkiller was still learning that trick and his signature screamed interest in the younger woman. In her mind, Nathrrya could only wish the poor bugger luck if he was going to attempt anything with Tara. She wasn't one to be easily tamed and she remembered that when she learned Tara had done the near-impossible in order to marry a Mandalorian. Tara loved him and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that.

Until the Eternal Fleet came into the picture.

Nathrrya frowned and shook the memory from her head a second time as she walked along the corridor of the detention block towards the cell where the princess was being held. She cast a glance at the hovering torture droid that floated alongside her and frowned deeper. It was a very crude and simplistic device, a black sphere with a multitude of protruding arms and needles and other assortment of pain-inflicting devices. As already indicated, she had no intent of actually using this Force-forsaken thing on the princess. She just had no intent on following Tarkin's orders, period. But this scenario gave her the opportunity to speak to the princess again and finish what she had started in relative privacy.

Two Stormtroopers preceded the Sith into the princess' cell. From where Nathrrya stood she could see the determined defiance in the princess' eyes and she had to give the woman credit for her courage in the face of danger, but that courage gave way to fear when she saw the droid hover in just before Nathrrya entered.

"Leave us!" Nathrrya ordered the two troopers. They obeyed easily enough thanks to the Force suggestion she'd put behind her words. Then she turned to Leia. "And now, your Highness, we're going to discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base." She gave a very unreassuring smile as the cell door snapped shut. Once it had been closed, she waved her hand and used the Force to bolt the door. The cell block commander wouldn't be able to open it even with his override codes if he wanted to.

The hovering torture droid was giving off a steady beeping as it moved closer to the princess, brandishing a very large, nasty looking hypodermic needle. Nathrrya pointed her palm towards the menacing machine, fisted her hand and brought it down, causing the droid to lose power and slowly hover downwards to the floor. For good measure she walked up to it and kicked the forsaken thing into the corner of the cell.

Leia looked towards it, stunned, and was convinced it wasn't going to be moving any time soon. She turned her attention to the Sith lord, slightly fearful of what could happen now. She'd heard stories of what Vader could do when he was apparently being "nice", so she could only imagine what Nathrrya was capable of. "W-what are you going to do now?"

The redhead only leaned against the wall and shrugged, her facial expression impassive. "Nothing," she said. "Aside from talk. We never did finish our conversation when we were aboard the _Accuser._ Besides, I'll be damned if I follow any order Tarkin gives me. If he wants something done, he should bloody do it himself." Leia looked to be having trouble with this concept. "Trust me, princess, I hate him and his Force forsaken hunk of junk as much as you do, if not slightly more. Death stations and super weapons and I don't get along well."

"Well… that's unexpected." Leia had to admit it, the woman before her was different, for sure. "Are you still going to assert that I'm Force sensitive?" She was a little more snarky now that she didn't seem to be in any real danger, but she was still wary.

The Sith grinned. "Because you are!" she said. "I know what I sense, Princess. Haven't you ever felt something before it happened? Perhaps you were in some sort of danger and you were able to avoid it, or during a debate in the Senate and you somehow knew who was going to vote how and why?"

The young woman nodded. "Yes, some of the time. I always attributed that to luck."

Nathrrya shook her head. "There's no real thing as luck, my dear. There is the Force, and it's swimming around you whether you believe me or not. It's there with you, a part of you, and that leads me to wonder exactly who your biological parents are. One of them, minimally, had to be a Force user, possibly a Jedi."

Leia furrowed her brow. "I thought the Jedi couldn't have attachments."

"It's always been a laser-brained idea," Nathrrya said passively with a swish of her hand. "I know from experience that not all Jedi followed that rule blindly like others."

That caught Leia's attention and she looked at the Sith with surprise. "You knew a Jedi that was married?"

Nathrrya nodded. "I did. And the irony in it all is he fell in love with and married a Sith." She couldn't contain her laughter seeing the horrified expression on the other woman's face. "It's not that bad! When the Jedi met her, she was a Jedi padawan, but it would be revealed later that she was a Sith runaway. That Jedi was a close friend of mine, and I poked that in his face as often as I could for good measure… but those meetings were few and far between."

Leia was desperately trying to processes the information she had just been given by the Sith woman and, for some reason she couldn't fathom, she knew that Lord Therin was telling the truth. The look on the older woman's face was a mix happiness and deep sadness. Leia realised that this Sith was far more complex than she had thought. Something was bothering the young woman, however.

"Just how old are you?"

Nathrrya's mood changed. She no longer had that comfortable sense about her and the aura she gave off immediately darkened, went solid and her features went a little cold. The change seemed to create a chill with how fast it had occurred. "All you need to know, Princess, is that I'm much older than I appear. One day, should the Force will it, you will know the truth about me. But until then that is my burden to bear."

"And, what about the other woman?" the young woman asked.

The Sith had collected the interrogation droid and was dragging it towards the door when she stopped at looked at Leia over her shoulder. "You mean Tara? Consider her in the same ship I am." She then unlocked the door and exited, leaving the princess to her thoughts and opinions about what was touched on.

 **. . .**

"Well?" Tarkin asked as Nathrrya entered the Death Star's main control room.

"The princess' resistance to the mind probe is considerable. It will be some time before I can extract any information from her." The Sith lied effortlessly. She made sure to scowl at the man.

"Governor Tarkin, the final check-out is complete." An Imperial Officer said interrupting whatever it was that Tarkin may have said. "All systems are operational. What course shall we set?"

Tarkin considered the question as he turned to Lord Therin, a bemused look on his face. The woman couldn't fathom why… he still looked like a prune. "Perhaps she would respond to an alternative form of persuasion."

The Sith narrowed her eyes. She had a bad feeling about this. "What do you mean... exactly?"

The man's smile sent a chill through her. "I think it's time we demonstrate the full power of this station." Tarkin looked at the officer who had interrupted. "Set your course for Princess Leia's home planet of Alderaan."

The officer saluted. "With pleasure." He said before going to carry out the order. The man really knew how to sour the Sith's mood and she made sure to glare at him. If looks could kill, well Tarkin would have been dead a long time ago.

She pulled out her comm. link and activated it. " _Yes, my lord?"_ Piett's voice answered.

"Piett, I want you to set course for the Alderaan system and wait at the outer edge until the Death Star arrives."

There was a longer silence than normal. " _Understood, my lord,"_ came the reply.

Tarkin looked on curious as the Sith put her comm. link away. "We can dock your Star Destroyer, Lord Therin." He informed her mildly.

"I'm aware of that," Nathrrya snapped, "But if you think I'm leaving _my_ ship at the tender mercies of _your_ battle station, _Governor,_ then you're delusionally mistaken." The way she spat his title made it clear the woman didn't think he was fit to govern much of anything, least of all the Death Star.

 **. . .**

Galen's body went flying across the room and he landed hard on his back. The wind was knocked out of him and the resistive training material of his arm was smoking from the hit Tara had given him. He staggered to his feet, coughing.

"Come on, Sparkle Star!" Tara cried with a smile. "You're going to let me kick the kriff outta you? I'm a girl!"

He looked towards the other woman and coughed again, pointing his finger accusingly at her. "Spast woman! You changed your technique!" He called his lightsaber back to his hand and activated it.

Tara was putting on a show of twirling the double-bladed lightsaber she was now using. When they had started she was dual-wielding, just as he was, and somewhere when he was about to win their little duel she connected the blunt ends of her hilts together and they locked into a completely different weapon. Galen had never seen this before. Tara was practically dancing around the training room with her green blades. He almost couldn't take his eyes off her.

"It's called improvisation, Galen," she defended. "Even if we didn't have sabers I'd still kick your ass because I can do weaponless combat too."

Without warning she Force-leaped over to him and he just had time to raise his weapons to block her overhead attack. The blades clashed with their electric zapping and red and green sparks sputtered around the two Force users.

"Who the hell _are_ you?" Tara smirked at the man and pushed back against him and leaped into the air flipping over and landing on her feet. Both of them were breathing deeply from their duel and Tara deactivated her lightsabers. Galen did the same and the two closed the large gap between them. The woman held out her lightsaber to Galen and he took it after replacing his on his utility belt.

"My own design," she said. The man looked at how the ends of each hilt were securely locked into one another. Tara reached up and pressed two small buttons near the ends that made them click and she twisted them apart. "If I ever needed an edge I could change my fighting style, turn my sabers into a double and scare the crap out of my enemies. It usually worked. As far as I know, I'm only one of two Sith that had a lightsaber designed like this."

"Your hilts are very light," he noticed. He gave one back to Tara and pulled one of his out. For one thing, her hilt was much smaller and that made sense - her hands were smaller than a man's. The metal was shiny, well taken care of and was etched in black Sith lettering that he couldn't read. Tara noticed him looking at the words.

"Prayers of fortitude and mastery of the Force," she explained. "I had those added by a metal worker when I had them designed." She watched Galen for a moment. "A leader of the Sith told me that the lightsaber is an extension of the Force user. So I wanted them to be a unique as I was considered to be."

"You certainly are unique," the man said. He gave her the weapon back and watched as she replaced it on the opposite side of her utility belt. From where he was standing, the woman looked good. He couldn't deny that Tara actually was attractive in more ways that just one. The way she fought was an extension of her personality - always changing, you never knew when she was going to do something different. Her choice of clothing style, to him, indicated that she was more bold and free spirited than others and she wasn't afraid to flaunt it.

Tara cleared her throat and Galen shifted his gaze to look her in the eyes. He instantly blushed when he realized where his eyes had been when his mind began to wander. "You're attracted to me, aren't you?"

He looked away, almost sheepish. "It's obvious?"

"A little…" Galen looked back at her and held her gaze for a moment. "Let's go take a walk."

As the duo were about to leave the training room the felt a mild shake in the metal. Looking at one another Galen noticed Tara had frowned. The feel was unmistakable as each ship, no matter how it was built, had the same shake. The Death Star had entered hyperspace.

 **. . .**

The planet of Alderaan sat quietly among the vast sea of space as the Death Star approached the planet. Grand Moff Tarkin stood in the control room of the massive super weapon and watched the green planet through the viewing screen. Behind him the door to the room swished open and two Stormtroopers escorted a bound princess onto the bridge. Lord Therin followed behind, an obvious scowl on her face when she saw the Moff.

"Governor Tarkin, I should have known it was you yanking on the leash on this whole situation. I recognized your foul stench almost immediately."

Nathrrya had to hide a smirk. Tarkin, on the other hand, wasn't amused. "Charming to the last," he said, turning to face the princess. As he did Leia got a view of her homeworld on the viewing screen and a furrow crossed her brow. "You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life!"

She scoffed. "I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself!"

The Moff either didn't hear her or he didn't care about the verbal assault. Instead he only gave a wicked smile and that alone gave Nathrrya a very bad vibe. Something in the Force shuddered but she couldn't place what it was.

"Princess Leia," he crooned. "Before your execution I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now."

 _What the hell…?_ Nathrrya stood more at attention. What was that spast doing?

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

"You say that now, Princess, but I believe that once we demonstrate the power of this station, let's say… on your homeworld of Alderaan, the galaxy would think differently."

The look on Leia's face was backed up by the Sith woman. "What the hell are you talking about Tarkin! You're not going to use this thing on that planet!"

"Alderann is peaceful!" Leia argued. "We don't have any weapons!"

"Would you prefer another target then, your highness?" Tarkin asked Leia, ignoring Nathrrya's outburst. "Perhaps a military target? I grow weary of asking this, so I will do so one last time. Where is the location of your Rebel base?"

Over the intercom Leia and Nathrrya heard a officer's voice indicating the approach to the planet. They were within range now for that attack. Leia looked at the screen of her home and dropped her head. "Dantooine," she said softly. "It's on Dantooine."

Tarkin grinned. "See, Lord Therin? She can be reasonable… though it would have been easier had you _actually_ done what I had ordered you to do."

"I don't take orders from you, Tarkin," Nathrrya ground out, her hands fisting. She was ready to strike the man down right then but held back. Tara had some truth in stating that the two of them couldn't take on the whole Death Star on their own.

The old prune looked back at the princess. "You're much too trusting, though, your Highness. Dantooine is too remote for an accurate demonstration." He turned to Motti then. "Continue with the operation. Fire when ready."

"No!" Nathrrya stepped forward and several posted troopers held their rifles up at her. "You son of a nerfwench! Do you have any idea what that's going to-!"

Motti had already initiated the sequence. The lasers began to charge and the outer cone lit up along the edges as the Death Star came to life. The lights got brighter and became more powerful and the lasers came together at the center of the cone and formed one large mass of energy which shot away from the super weapon and raced towards the unsuspecting planet.

There was an enormous flash of light and then nothing. In almost no time at all the planet was gone, reduced to space dust. There was a suddenness about it… seeing the planet there and then not there the next moment. There was silence and then came the shock wave.

Nathrrya felt it almost immediately. The Living Force churned violently around her and in the viewing screen she could almost see the waves as they clashed into one another as the balance of life and death was pushed so severely out of whack. Her head started to pound and she felt dizzy, causing herself to have to lean against the nearest wall.

"Lord Therin, are you alright?" Nathrrya grit her teeth hearing the words come from Tarkin, even though he had no feeling behind them. He didn't care if she was or wasn't. She stood up and looked towards the man, her eyes so yellow they were unnatural and sent waves of fear into the room.

"How _dare_ you!" The Sith looked up, her eyes turned yellow and were already being tinted orange. "No, I'm not bloody alright, you force blind imbecile! Do you have any idea of what you've just done!?" Nathrrya tried to stop the incessant ringing in her head. "If my mental shields weren't as strong as they are I'd be in far greater pain than I am. I thought seeing a world become a lifeless ball of rock was bad, but what you've just achieved makes what happened to Ziost look pleasant in comparison."

"And hopefully it will send a message to anyone who opposes us. I have, after all, demonstrated the power of this station and secured respect for the Empire."

"You're stating the kriffing obvious!" Nathrrya had taken to massaging her temples to alleviate the headache that was now building behind her forehead. She felt sick to her stomach. "I'm talking about what you've done to the Force, you idiot! The destruction of that planet left a wound that probably won't heal, and I doubt that it would. It's almost impossible to explain the magnitude of what just happened to a non-Force user."

Nathrrya was beside herself. She took a few steps towards the Grand Moff and raised her hand towards him, but only pointed a finger. "I'm going to take great pleasure in killing you, Tarkin… and part of me wants to on matter of principle. But if and when I get the chance, I will take it and you won't see me coming. Mark my words, you piece of bantha scum..." -her eyes flashed red, taking her into the deepest recesses of the Dark Side- "...you _will not_ live much longer."

Tarkin held his head high and looked at the woman from the top of his nose. "Lord Therin, need I remind you that I am your superior officer. The Emperor has put you under my command. I do not take lightly to such threats." He turned his head and addressed the Stormtroopers. "Take the princess back to her cell to await her execution."

As the Troopers took the princess away, Nathrrya's comm. link beeped.

" _Lord Therin! You're needed in medbay three-oh-four. Your apprentice has collapsed."_

"Spast!" The redhead turned to leave but Tarkin called out to stop her. The woman didn't listen.

 **. . .**

 _-Twenty Standard Minutes Earlier-_

The two young Force users were in some hallway past where they had been sparring. The two were standing close to one another as they walked and not and again Galen or Tara would whisper something to the other and smiles would grace their faces.

"So, this 'Living Force'," Galen said. "It's something that lives in all of us?"

"Yes. It's as a part of us as we are of it. The Force is not just any kind of energy that manifests in Jedi or Sith. It's in every human, every humanoid, to some degree or another. The ones who are most sensitive in it can use it for good or ill, hence you have the Jedi and the Sith."

Galen listened to the woman and had a completely different opinion of her. Since he'd spoken to her on the holocommunicator and apologized for destroying her droid, she had been a very different woman. Truthfully, her views were questionable - they weren't the views of a Sith Lord, not any Sith Lord he had studied about or experienced, since Lord Vader was really the only person he was in contact with. There was also General Kota and the Emperor, but Tara didn't fit either category.

"So, if you're not Sith, what are you?"

Tara stopped walking and looked at him. He noticed she stopped and turned to face her, his eyes looking down on the petite woman and waited for her response. Tara wasn't sure how she wanted to answer that. She wondered if she even should. She took a breath. "I didn't say I wasn't Sith," she started, "and I'm not saying I'm a Jedi. I'm just… a Force user who wound up on one side of a credit chip when really there's a Light Side, a Dark Side and everything in between."

The man watched her as she looked away and clicked her teeth together. When she turned her head back her eyes caught his and they could only look at one another for a long moment. Down the hall there were the sound of marching footsteps and several Stormtroopers on their rounds came by. The two started walking again, smirks on their faces.

"So… am I right in thinking that you have an interest in me?" She made a side glance at Galen and raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps," he said. "We've been consistently running into one another during our missions for the last six months, you beat me down every time we meet up, you wear very questionable clothing which I personally wouldn't consider clothing at all and I can't seem to stop thinking about you."

At least he was truthful. Tara didn't sense any deception in his words and his signature was relatively calm about it. From the way he was looking at her and the way she felt so comfortable near him, she didn't know how to react. One thing for certain, she did feel uncomfortable about the way this was going. It was too similar…

"Am I to believe that you're flirting with me, Galen Marek?" What the hell was she doing…?

The man stopped and grabbed her wrist, making her stop and turn towards him. Something in his eyes spoke out to her when she locked their gazes. His were a rich brown, dark and soothing to look at. In her mind she couldn't see Galen being a true Sith, not with eyes like that. He had a temper, surely, but something about the calm side of Galen wrapped around her and gave her the same sense of calm. It was a very different feeling from before.

"Tara… I'm not interested in fighting you. Honestly, I'm past the point of flirting. I think we've beaten around the bush long enough because I know I have feelings for you. I just don't really know what they are yet, or even if you have anything similar. I won't assume you do."

She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and nibbled on it. Galen sucked in a quiet breath when he saw it. Part of his mind told him to bite that lip for her, but he resisted. He took another step and brought them closer together. Inches separated them and he could feel the power of the Force around the woman. It was an older power, definitely stronger than his own or even that of his master. It baffled him but he didn't want to think about power or strength or anything with the Force. He only wanted his attention to be on the woman before him. Just the woman.

She tilted her head up slightly and Galen's instinct brough his head down to her. He could practically feel the warmth from her just before their lips met, but something happened and the two of them came apart from one another. Without warning something in the Force clashed violently around them and wracked his mind with the worst kind of pain imaginable. He cried out and wrapped his hands around his head and leaned back against the wall, feeling dizzy. His vision blurred and he shook his head, trying to regain his senses.

 _What the kriff was that?_ He looked around, befuddled. As fast as it came it was gone and he felt this sudden sense of nothingness seep into him, like he'd lost a part of himself - it just wasn't there anymore. He looked around, trying to figure where it had come from but his eyes only fell on Tara.

"Oh… Spast!" He dropped down to his knees where Tara lay on the ground, her body spread like she had been hit with something large. Her chest was barely moving and blood pooled around her head - her nose and ears were bleeding. "Tara! Someone - Help!"

He pulled the woman into his arms and picked her up, holding her close to his body. At his cry the same set of Stormtroopers rounded back towards him that had passed a little while before. He looked towards them. "Alert the medbay and get word to Lord Therin that her apprentice has collapsed!"

"Right away sir!"

Galen followed two of the troopers down the hall as quickly as they could to the nearest medbay. Once there he placed her limp body down on the bed and stepped back as the medical technicians scrambled around her and worked to find out what happened. Galen could only recant small pieces of what occurred to the woman - he'd been too disoriented to really know. He didn't even know if she screamed, but apparently she had since the troopers indicated as such. The man stepped back against the wall and leaned back, running his hand down the front of his face and holding it over his mouth for a moment. He sighed.

 _Please,_ he thought. _Let her be okay._

Twenty minutes later the med staff had Tara hooked to a kolto drip and had cleaned her face of the blood. There was a hovering med droid nearby with another hyperdermic needle in Tara's arm replacing the blood she had lost. The monitors showed a much slower heart rate and her breathing was shallow. The woman was pale to begin with but now she was ghost white. If she hadn't been on the monitors, Galen would swear she was dead. When he heard the door swish open he turned his head and saw that Lord Therin had come in. She was at Tara's side in an instant.

"What happened?" Galan asked her. Nathrrya didn't seem to hear him right away - she was too busy looking over Tara with her own eyes to assure herself that her friend was okay. Even Nathrrya thought Tara looked horrible. She cursed under her breath and finally turned to Galen. Her eyes were yellow but they returned to normal soon enough as she looked at the man.

"What you felt, what she suffered from, was the destruction of a planet in less than five seconds. There was a hole blasted into the Living Force."

Galen's eyes went wide and he had trouble conceiving that. The rumble he felt just before he felt dizzy, it meant that…

"The Death Star was activated."

 **. . .**

There was an eerie silence among those present on the bridge of the _Accuser_. Everyone there were in shock and were trying to comprehend what happened and what they all had just witnessed.

Navigator Pressly blinked in stupefied horror and slowly sat back in his chair. "Nine Corellian Hells!" he breathed quietly. "I can't believe it… I mean, I know that's what the Death Star's main function was, but to actually see it being used on a populated planet…"

Piett's face had gone pale and his heart beat wildly in his ears. He had not been mistaken on what his eyes had beheld just then. The captain strategically leaned close to his captain's chair because his legs had gone weak in the shock. The room was so utterly silent that it was loud. Piett could only nod at Pressly's statement. He didn't think he could speak right then even if his life depended on it.

Lord Therin was not going to be pleased. The crew of the _Accuser_ knew her standing on the super weapon and both Sith women were very vocal about it. Then the man grimaced; there were quite a few aboard the Star Destroyer that were either from Alderaan or who had family planetside. He frowned - there were going to be AWOL reports in his very near future and they were going to be plentiful.

. . .

The Kuat system was significantly distanced from the Alderaan system, but distance did nothing to lessen the feel of the void that was now rippling through the Force.

Darth Vader had been present at the Kuat Drive Yards overseeing the completion of the Super Star Destoryer, Executor when he felt the ripple rush through the Force. He turned his gaze out of one of the massive viewports and looked off into the vast sea of blackness and twinkling stars. What he had felt was the destruction of a planet. He knew that much.

It seemed that Tarkin had finally demonstrated the power that the technological terror possessed. Tarkin had to be joyously proud of the accomplishment. A brief thought through the Sith's mind made him wonder if it had been worth it and was tickled at the thought of what else the Death Star would target and terrorize.

But there was one small part of him that was vastly disgusted at what occurred and it was that minuscule part of his heart that was still Anakin Skywalker.

. . .

The Imperial Throne room was this vast expanse, decorated to show the architectural genius that was used to build the rest of Corouscant. Posted at regular intervals along the inner perimeter of the room were the red-clad Imperial guards with their shouldered vibrostaffs. Emperor Palpatine was sitting upon his throne with his Hand just off to the side. Mara Jade glanced at her Emperor and frowned when he began to emit this evil cackle of delight. She had felt something but it was muted, and she could only guess that the Emperor had been shielding her from whatever it was that had occurred through the Force. Part of her didn't want to know.

The young Hand had been blindly faithful to the Emperor for years, but when the Sith woman, Nathrrya Therin, came into the picture her defiant resolve about Palpatine was waning. During the initial introductions, Mara had felt something from her master that she'd never felt before: fear. It had only grown when Palpaine learned there had been a second woman who had not yet recovered from hibernation sickness. For Mara it didn't take her long to figure out that the fear Palpatine had was because he couldn't control the women the way he could control Vader and herself. Mara doubted the man could control them at all. The two Sith women, to Mara, apparently joined Palpatine for no other reason than necessity and one of two things could happen when Palpatine outlived his usefulness - they would leave and do their own thing, or they would turn against him and kill the man.

The latter seemed to be more likely.

. . .

Master Yoda shifted uncomfortably atop a tree stump he had been sitting on. His old, wrinkled face wrinkled more in his deep thought at the shudder he had felt run through the veins of the Force. He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath in.

"Miscalculated the Emperor has," he said. He allowed himself a slight smile. "Clouded, unpredictable the ancient Sith's actions become, they have."

Master Jinn's shade frowned. "That cannot be a good thing."

"Know I do not," Yoda stated. "Good thing for the Emperor it is not. Unknowingly sealed his downfall has become."

. . .

Starkiller's _Rogue Shadow_ was docked in one of the many bays of the Death Star. Upon his request, Juno Eclipse was to stay on the small ship and help take care of Kota while they were on the Death Star, for obvious reasons. It was doubtful that Tarkin would tolerate an old Jedi general's presence on the Death Star.

Juno had been in the back of the ship when she heard something crash towards the bow. She rushed to the front and saw that the Jedi had fallen and was sprawled on the deck of the ship's bridge.

"General Kota! Are you alright?" The woman knelt down beside the older man and assisted him off the floor carefully and maneuvered him back into the chair he had pretty much designated as his.

Kota was dizzy. "I… I will be. Thank you for helping me up, girl."

She looked at him with concern in her eyes, not that he could see it. "What happened?"

Apparently she hadn't felt the vibrations within the hull of either the _Rogue Shadow_ or te Death Star. He frowned. "The Death Star's main weapon was fired. A planet was just blasted into space dust. What system are we in?"

Hearing what the Jedi was saying Juno hurried to the console and found out in moments. Her chest felt immediately tighter and she had to swallow - her mouth had gone dry. She turned frightened eyes to the unseeing Jedi. "We're in the… Alderaan… system."

The man was grim faced. "Then Alderaan is no longer in existence."

. . .

Old Ben watched Luke practicing with his father's lightsaber and a small practice remote. Suddenly he had to turn away to sit down. He faltered, wondering if he were about to faint.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?" Luke asked as he switched of his lightsaber.

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force... as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." The old Jedi said as he rubbed his forehead seemingly to drift into a trance. Suddenly Ben's gaze snapped to Luke. "You'd better get on with your exercises. I fear you will need that lightsaber far sooner than I had wished."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This little story seems to be gaining a little bit of popularity and my boyfriend and I are rather pleased that people are finding this story enjoyable. We work very hard on it, going back and forth with it, and we've gotten to where we actually figure out what is to be taken up in each chapter before we start writing it. Chapter Five is in the final stages of production and should be up in about a week. So please, leave a comment, review or opinion and let us know how we're doing on this. ~Jhen


	5. 5 - Game Changer

**EPISODE IV - CHAPTER FIVE**

Nathrrya and Galen remained in the medbay for hours, not once leaving the younger Sith's side. At some point they'd introduced themselves to each other. Galen slumped down in the chair he was given and only complained when his back muscles began to throb from the abuse.

Nathrrya, on the other hand, ignored her pain and kept her concentrations on her friend and apprentice. The woman was leaning forward, her elbows on the edge of Tara's bed, and had her hands folded and was leaning her forehead on them. Every now and then Galen would catch the whisper of old Sith prayers and another strange language. He frowned.

"You speak ancient Mandalorian?"

Nathrrya looked up at him for a moment, watching him, sizing him up. She was still raw from what happened in the Control Room and the situation with Tara was rubbing her worse than she had thought. She was really concerned for her friend's well being and she didn't, in any way, want to lose her. Tara was all she had.

"I picked a few things up from her," the redhead said, looking down at the other woman. "She's more fluent in it than I am." She sighed and sat back, rubbing her face with her hand and looked at Galen from her seat. "I can pick up the fact that you're interested in her. There's no hiding it, but I want to know why you're interested."

The question took him slightly off guard. Galen thought about his answer carefully, feeling like he was under the scrutinizing gaze of a protective mother krayt dragon. "I can't stop thinking about her," he said, "especially since we keep running into one another. It's gotta be some kind of obsession we have."

"Love is very different from obsession, boy."

For some reason that pierced him where it hurt. It showed on his face but Nathrrya ignored the glare she received from him.

"You can't possibly know enough about her to really be that interested. As her friend and her master… and even as her one-time enemy, I'm going to tell you that she has a lot of baggage. A lot." She let that sink in for a moment. "Do you have what it takes to win her over?"

Galen blinked and looked down at Tara before returning his gaze to the other Sith. "She's twenty-six, native of Dromund Kaas, and has been in training since the age of fourteen in the ways of the Dark Side. She loves blueberry pie and has a mean right hook. Oh and her master at one point was Darth Baras until one of his other apprentices killed him."

"When I killed Baras I was no longer his apprentice but his equal." Nathrrya didn't blink. "Do you know why she loves blueberry pie?" He shook his head. "Has she told you where she got that mark on her right wrist?" He looked down and noticed it right then - the woman wasn't wearing her gloves or her bracers, thus it was no longer hidden from view. "I thought so."

Galen looked closer at the mark on Tara's right wrist. It was a pale brown ring which looked etched into her skin. It had to only be a centimeter thick, almost like a branding or a tattoo of some kind. It was light but her pale skin made seem darker than it probably should have been. He looked to Nathrrya. "How does she know ancient Mandalorian?"

"It's called 'Mando'a'," she corrected. "And she learned it because her husband was a Mandalorian clan leader."

"Husband?" Galen's face was shocked and he took a breath in, looking at the unconscious brunette. "She's married?"

He received a shrug in response. "Considering what happened to us, not anymore. She's practically a widow, but that's not how she sees it."

Galen's face showed a bit of annoyance. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, the annoyance showed in his tone. "The two of you show up about seven months ago. You've been put as the second in command of the entire Imperial Military and no one knows who you are, where you've come from, or why you just so happen to show up. It violates the Rule of Two."

Nathrrya rolled her eyes and glared at the man. "When we were trained The Rule of Two didn't exist and was violated when Vader took you as an apprentice," she argued. "So shut up about that. You will get stronger and when you do you'll get a damn good feel for the Force and how it actually works. The Living Force guides us all. I don't believe in fate, I don't believe in luck, and I barely believe in destiny, but I do believe in the Living Force and it's asked Tara and me for help."

"We lost everything," she said. "One day, just like that." She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "I got a call from a well known Sith Lord and member of the Dark Council. The infighting that the Sith had back then was so bad we nearly wiped ourselves out, and seeing where it's been going for us now, I'm not surprised it finally happened."

"The Sith weren't eradicated," he said.

"No, but there was an imbalance in the Force because of it." She clicked her teeth and worked on recalling what little research she did on her off time. "When the Sith nearly destroyed themselves, Darth Bane created the philosophy of the Rule of Two: one Sith Lord to embody the power of the Dark Side and an apprentice to crave it. It stated-"

"That there are to be only two Sith at any one time." A Force pressure smacked him upside the head and he winced. Nathrrya glared.

"Don't interrupt me again. But yes, that was the premise. There was an imbalance though between the Light side and the Dark side. So, our good buddy Palpy took over and initiated his infamous Order 66, which practically leveled the Jedi Order nearly twenty years ago. It brought a little balance, but the scales are still tipped in favor of one side to the other."

"You talk about balance," Galen stated. "What does balance have to do with anything?"

"Everything! You recall what you felt when Alderaan bit the dust?" The way she said it made him feel a pang of guilt in his gut. He nodded. "That was the feeling of the Living Force getting the biggest broken bone you can imagine. That will take centuries to heal, if it heals at all."

She shuddered recalling the feeling herself. It was like millions of tiny voices all screaming out in absolute terror and then utter silence so deafening she wanted to claw her ears off her head. She had no doubt that any Force sensitive wouldn't have sensed that.

"Look, Tara and I have a mission here. What it is exactly, we don't know, but the Living Force is guiding us and our paths are different, but parallel. Tara… was finally tasting happiness before this poodoo happened. She's not going to let it go that easily for you, if that's what you're thinking."

Galen relaxed at the tone of the woman across from him. She spoke softly and there was evident concern in her voice - something very much not like any Sith he knew of. Sith in appearance, Jedi in nature. The man was confused, even Tara acted like that, but was much wilder. "So, I need your consent?"

She snorted. "No, you need hers. She may be my good friend, she's also my apprentice and sometimes even my worst enemy. But she's her own woman and she has her own faults and strengths. You do what you want, but I will kill you if you hurt her in any way. She lost more than just her husband, and he'd been the love of her life." She was quiet for a moment and stifled a yawn. "Get out of here… you have things I'm sure you need to do and I'm not leaving her side until she wakes up."

The man didn't move right away but a shift in the feel of the Force around Nathrrya jolted him into action. He got up with a mild curse and a scowl towards the woman before he rounded the bed and headed towards the exit of the medbay. He paused just at the door and turned back. "If what you said is true, then I won't make a move until I know the difference between love and obsession."

Three heartbeats passed. Nathrrya didn't turn or move, but there was a tired smirk on her lips. "Smart man, Galen." The man nodded and the door opened, but Nathrrya turned in her chair. "One more thing," she said, "be sure to tell your friend to be more careful."

"You're talking about Juno?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "No, I mean your _other_ friend. The Jedi are rare enough as it is, I don't want to see them disappear altogether. He's really good at hiding his Force signature, but he's slipped a few times since you docked. Just let him know, and keep him safe. The man can teach you things Vader can't, and that's assuming you know the path you want to take."

Galen didn't have anything to say to the woman but he nodded again and turned to leave. When the door to the medbay closed, leaving the two women alone among the beeps and hisses of the medical equipment, Tara opened her eyes and looked towards Nathrrya. "You didn't tell him about…"

"That's not my secret to tell," Nathrrya responded quietly. "I gave him fair warning about you, though. I know you miss Torian, I know you want to be back with him, but this is where we've ended up and we're here for a reason. I have no doubts that Torian ended up in a position where he was destined to be."

Tara smirked. "I thought you didn't believe in destiny."

"I don't," she confirmed. "But that doesn't mean I can't accept it when other people are involved. Your husband believed in chance and skill. With the right combination of both he got the hunt and owned it. Same with us, kiddo. We have our skill, we have our bond to the Force. With the balance of the two we can practically tell the future."

Tara shifted on the bed so she was laying on her right side, facing Nathrrya more, and sighed. "That whole thing hurt, by the way." Nathrrya had no question of what she was talking about. "Nat, it hurt so bad I thought I was going to lose my mind."

The redhead nodded and sighed. Tara could see the gears turning in her friend's eyes right into her mind. Somehow Tara could sense what Nathrrya was going to say, so she beat her to the punch.

"We gotta go," Tara said. Nathrrya agreed. "But aside from the obvious, I'm not the tactical planner. You are."

Nathrrya chewed her bottom lip again, like she did when she was deep in pondering thought. "Captain Piett and most of the crew on the _Accuser_ stand with me," she said, "and those that don't right now probably will after that whole disaster. I'm not yet prepared to take the ship to the rebel base, not being so close to the Death Star. Tarkin has tracking devices and other Force-knows-what on my ship that I'll need to find and get rid of before I come anywhere near the rebel base."

"The princess and Captain Antilles are being held in the detention blocks," Tara said, her mind now getting back into the groove. "I'm going to bust them out."

"Do it," Nathrrya said. "I know you've got the skills needed to do that. You've come a long way in the seven months I've been instructing you. When you're recovered, go see the princess and Antilles and get them the spast out of here. Take our ship too, she's fully stocked and travel-ready. I'll stay here to rally who I can. That will be enough time for you to get the princess to the base and warn them that I'm coming so they don't try to shoot down my SD."

 **. . .**

Nathrrya had stayed with Tara to make sure she had come fully around before she felt it safe to leave her friend. Not that she wanted to, but she returned to the control room of the giant abomination and was still nursing her headache from the attack on the planet many hours earlier. Coming into the room she noticed a buzz around those collected. Tarkin was nearly purple-faced and the redhead smirked seeing him in some state of mental anguish.

"She lied to us!" he spat. "Dantooine had been abandoned for a long time. Who knows where they are now!"

"I warned you she wasn't going to give up the location of her base consciously." Tarkin turned to face Nathrrya and it was all she could do to keep the smile off her face. She failed and she showed it. It only seemed to piss Tarkin off more. She was okay with that.

"I want her terminated… immediately!"

"Sir! Incoming call from the hangar bay." The officer hit a few buttons and the speakers came to life.

"We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. It's markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley. It's being pulled into the hangar bay now."

Nathrrya raised an eyebrow at the news. She recalled Starkiller having said something about that very ship as he had been pursuing it as part of his mission. Tara had confirmed that the ship had the droids that held the Death Star plans and was about to intercept when she recalled her back to the _Accuser._ Nathrrya took a breath through her nose when she realized that the droids she helped to escape were about to wind up in the laps of the people she didn't want to have them returned to.

"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess. She may yet be of some use to us." Nathrrya said stating the obvious; hopefully it would buy Tara some time to get the princess and Captain Antilles off the Force-forsaken station.

Takin nodded his agreement. "Lord Therin, head down to the hangar and search the ship. I want those schematics recovered."

She only nodded and turned to leave the control room. When she was in the hallway there were several dozen Stormtroopers headed towards the hangar as she was. She pulled out her communicator and activated it. "Tara, whether you're recovered or not, get on deck. We have company."

Nathrrya followed the troopers to Docking Bay 2037 and stood on the main floor where the troopers that had passed her were now lined up perfectly, rifles in hand, and waited their orders. She watched at the battered pirate starship was towed closer towards them. The ship was brought into the hangar past the control room and the large laser turret cannons and it came to rest on the hangar floor. She watched as an officer and several soldiers entered the ship to search it for lifeforms.

The woman was joined by a commander as the two fell into step with one another. She looked around at the outside of the ship and noticed the state of disrepair the craft was in. She cocked her head a little and realized that the ship was similarly shaped to her old Fury, the _Violet Rose_. She hummed thoughtfully as she put her attention to the soldiers that were now descending the ship's ramp.

"There's no one on board, sir," the officer said. "According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It has to be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods had been deployed, which confirms abandonment."

"Did you find any droids aboard?" she asked.

"No, sir. If there were any aboard, they were jettisoned out with the crew."

The commander's comm. link beeped and he answered it. " _I want that ship searched thoroughly and scanned,"_ came Tarkin's voice. " _Those plans are to be found and returned."_

Nathrrya glared at the communicator. "Well then, I guess I'm not needed here. I'll be in the medbay attending to my apprentice." As she was about to leave the hangar, she turned and frowned as she looked upon the outer hull of the docked starship. It was faint but it was there. _Another Jedi? At least Vader isn't here. Oh kriffing hell, why me?_ At least this one was making the effort to keep their signature on the extremely down low. There was no way the Jedi was alone, either. Not in that hunk of junk. That meant Tara's plan to bust the princess out just became much harder.

 **. . .**

A trooper ran through the hallway of the _Millennium Falcon_ heading for the exit. For a few moments all was quiet and then the muffled sounds of a distant officer giving orders finally faded. Moments later two floor panels popped open, revealing Han and Chewie in one and Luke and Ben in the other.

"Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments." Luke remarked getting out.

"Yeah, kid. I use them for smuggling," Han replied. "I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them. This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam."

"Leave that to me." Ben said with a smile as he prepared himself to disembark the ship.

"Damn fool. I knew that you were going to say that!" the smuggler grumbled.

"Who's the more foolish... the fool or the fool who follows him?" Ben looked at Han thoughtfully. Opening to the Force, the old Jedi could sense three other force users on the station, the same three he'd felt on Tatooine. He knew his chances of leaving were slim but he had made peace with the idea of death a long time ago. He smiled to himself; at least Vader wouldn't get the satisfaction. The old Jedi would take his victories where he could.

 **. . .**

Nathrrya had rendezvoused with her apprentice after Tara was released from the medbay. The brunette had changed out of her slinky exotic dancer's top for something that covered her more fully and gave support where it counted. Nathrrya had commented on the choice of garb but Tara only narrowed her eyes at her master's own choice. The conversation never needed to take place. But the sensuous top Tara had was dyed a deep emerald green which complimented the pale skin and dark hair of the younger woman and still made her look deadly. It was a high quality bantha leather garment and she had matching leggings that clung to her like a second skin. As Tara attached her two lightsabers to her utility belt, the women discussed the capture of the YT-1300 freighter.

"Okay, so my plan just got more complicated…"

"That's putting it lightly," Nathrrya commented, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. "I will say this, the idiocy of our own time has not been idle if it survived four thousand years. The Jedi still perplex me on their laser-brained and half-baked plans. How he plans to get the princess out of here is beyond me."

"Whelp… sounds like Tara to the rescue…" Tara put her hand on Nathrrya's arm and stopped them both. With a questioning gaze Nathrrya looked up and saw what had stopped Tara. The women were watching two Stormtroopers waiting near a turbolift and they were escorting a Wookie prisoner. The women looked at one another, both beginning to grin.

"This is so not the right time, but I can't resist…"

Nathrrya's grin turned into a full smile. "Let's go say hello, why don't we?"

"I love the way you think."

The two troopers and the Wookie entered the lift and the doors were about to close but Nathrrya stopped them with a Force push, long enough for her and Tara to also enter. The women stood in front of the three others with them in the lift, only giving the troopers a look of mild acknowledgement. Tara turned her head and looked at the giant alien creature before turning to the redhead with a look. Han watched the two women and began to wonder if this Force that the old fossil kept preaching had it out for him. He was getting a reward - he was going to demand hazard pay for this as well.

The young man watched the women through the visor of his helmet curiously. The taller of the two women was dressed in clothing that made her seem like she had come from a swoop team - she had a piece of cloth effectively hiding her chest and a duster over it. She showed off a healthy amount of midriff and had both a blaster and a lightsaber on her utility belt. Behind his helmet his eyes went wide. The brunette could only be described as an exotic beauty. Long, wavy black hair, pale skin, and a leather sleeveless top that was colored a deep green, with matching trousers that looked more like a second skin. She didn't have anything extraneous besides her own utility belt, also deep green, with various pouches and no less than two intricate silver saber hilts. He was distracted from his shock when the dark haired woman spoke.

"I didn't think that Talz came out this far from their planets."

Chewbacca woofed indignantly at the racial slur. Han had to elbow the beast into submission in order to keep him in check so their cover wasn't blown. The redhead looked to her apprentice.

"You know very well that's a Wookie, not a Talz," she scolded. The brunette grinned with a playful glint in her green eyes. "I'm sorry, Master! You never let me have any fun."

"I let you have too much fun," Nathrrya said in all seriousness. She then turned and looked at the two Stormtroopers and addressed the taller looking one. "Where _are_ you taking the giant rug anyway?"

Chewie was losing his temper and started to struggled, making deep growling noises. The one Stormtrooper grabbed the prisoner. "Detention Cell A-A, sir."

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. "You realize that's the cell block Princess Organa is kept, right?"

"Yes, sir. Those were my orders."

She nodded and was accepting of the answer. She turned back around and glanced at her apprentice, who was scrutinizing the other Stormtrooper with her intense green eyes. "Aren't you a little short to be a trooper?" she asked.

"He's… uh… a new recruit," the first trooper said. "He's on rotation."

"I see." Tara took another step closer to the trooper she was tormenting. Nathrrya did her best not to smile at the entertainment. The two troopers were emitting a mixture of emotions and it tickled her senses. "Trooper, what is the name of the overall commanding officer of the Death Star?"

The taller of the two troopers turned his head towards the smaller. Luke, thankfully, had his head covered by the mask and the women couldn't see the pure terror in his eyes as he swallowed hard as he tried to think of the answer. He honestly didn't know and couldn't even fathom how to go about answering it.

"She asked you a question, solider," Nathrrya growled. "I suggest you answer."

"Um… General Must...ifier… General Mustifier, sir!"

Tara smiled, happy with the answer. She turned around and glanced at her master. " _He's an idiot,"_ she said using Mando'a. Nathrrya smirked. These two were definitely part of the would-be rescue mission for the princess. But she wanted a little more fun.

"There is a Jedi on this station," she mentioned. "He may be attempting to rescue the princess. I will be facing him alone. Just make sure your boyfriend, Sparkle Star doesn't get in my way."

"He's nothing as such," Tara said, huffing. "And I will not be responsible for his actions."

"You say that now, Tara."

The lift came to a stop and the doors opened. The two women left with nothing as much of a glance back towards the three others. The door closed and the lift continued and both Luke and Han exhaled the breaths they had been holding.

"That was... too... damned... close." Han sighed with relief. Chewie woofed in agreement but was still disgruntled about being called a Talz.

Luke, on the other hand, had gone back to being in shock over what he saw. He turned to Han. "Did you see what those women had on their utility belts? Lightsabers!"

"That's because those chicks are both Sith," Han said. "Jedi aren't the only ones with those fancy laser swords." Even though he didn't believe in the Force didn't mean he wasn't aware of simple knowledge regarding it.

Luke had pulled the helmet off his head and looked at Han wide eyed. "You mean like Vader?" He sounded almost scared. Ben told him about Vader, but he said nothing about any more than just him.

"Yep, just like Vader and a hell of a lot more dangerous." The smuggler looked over at the farm boy. "The redhead was Lord Nathrrya Therin, second in command of the entire imperial military; the other one was her apprentice, K'natara Synge." He shook his head and blew out a breath. "If those two are here then your princess has to be something pretty special to warrant it."

 **. . .**

Once they were away from the turbolift Nathrrya and Tara stopped and faced one another. "Do your best to follow them and help in any way you can," Nathrrya said. "And if you can, take the _Silver Phantom_ and follow them. That'll be your point of defection and it'll give me a reason to follow you. No doubt Tarkin will want to, but the _Accuser_ would be quicker than this mammoth station. Also, see what you can do to help Antilles."

Tara nodded but looked at her master. "What about the bean sprout, Nat? He's Force sensitive."

"I know," she said with a sigh. "The Force was snapping and popping all around him, like it didn't know what it was doing." She rubbed the back of her neck and gave Tara a determined look. "Protect them. I have a feeling they're going to get themselves killed. They have no plan and I swear they're making it up as they go." Tara nodded and bowed to Nathrrya, showing her the respect deserved of a master. She turned and headed back towards the turbolift to track down where they had gone.

"And Tara?" The brunette turned to her master. "Kill any Stormtroopers if you need to. It'll make your defection more believable." The younger woman was obviously against the idea of killing anyone if she didn't have to, but she nodded regardless and rounded the corner out of sight.

 _May the Force guide you, K'natara Cadera._

Nathrrya looked around and saw that she was more or less alone she pulled her comlink from her belt. "Captain Piett, I want the technical crews to go over every centimetre of the _Accuser_ inside and out as quickly and thoroughly as they can. If something shouldn't be there then remove and dispose of it."

" _Understood my lord, find and destroy all bug and tracking devices."_ There was a pause. " _If I may ask, my lord, but what's going on?"_

"I'll explain when I'm back on board Captain. One more thing, that YT-1300 that was brought in, you may soon see it make a very swift exit followed by the _Silver Phantom_ , do not interfere and allow them to flee even if Tarkin orders otherwise, play dumb you don't take orders from him."

" _Understood my lord. I await your return."_

 **. . .**

In her cell, Princess Leia was still trying to come to terms with the loss of her home, it was a raw wound and would be for some time. But what puzzled the young woman more was Lord Therin's reaction. Leia had seen her stagger and lean against a wall then give Tarkin a real dressing down. She thought that the Sith was going to kill the Moff at one point as she clearly wanted to, she even said as much.

This made her think of the rebel agent who went by the codename Balance. They were stationed aboard the _Accuser_ and seemingly had evaded detection by both Sith women that called the Star Destroyer home. Their information was always high level and always accurate. Through Balance the Alliance had been able to build up a picture of Lord Therin.

To say it was contradictory was an understatement. The woman hated the Death Star and Tarkin she'd never hid that from the crew. She also disliked 'Planetary Suppression' operations and did her best to limit the civilian casualties. A number of Moffs had perished by being force choked for questioning her authority over such actions. Lord Therin had gone ballistic when she'd discovered an Imperial Intelligence agent aboard her ship. Apparently the agent had tried to gain access to her quarters. Balance had also noted that in the months following that event the crew rotations and transfers were much higher than normal even Captain Piett was baffled by it. They seem to have stopped only a few weeks ago.

Lord Therin had never harmed a member of her crew unlike Vader who was well known for his heavy handed discipline. Balance had once asked Lord Therin about it and her reply had been simple the crew were human just as she was, people make mistakes. Balance had also informed the Alliance that Lord Therin had a pair of T-65 X-wings in her private hangar bay along with a pair of TIE Advanced fighters, two Lambda-class shuttles and a Phantom luxury cruiser. As well as several other vessels he couldn't identify.

Balance had also confirmed that the younger Sith woman was Lord Therin's apprentice though it was his view they acted more like friends than mere master and apprentice as he'd never heard either use the tiles when they were talking to each other. They had used "Nat" and "Tara", shorted forms of their first names. There had even been rare occasions where Lord Therin addressed Lord Synge as "kiddo", much to the younger woman's distaste.

What had shocked Leia the most was the identity of Balance as he'd discreetly revealed himself as being none other than General Crix Madine, commander of the 82nd Stormtrooper Legion, Therin's Will.

Leia was brought out of her thoughts by her cell door opening. She turned her attention to the door and raised her eyes. "Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?" she asked.

"Huh?" A voice from inside the helmet before it was removed to reveal a blond haired, blued eyed boy. "Oh... the uniform. I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."

Leia was confused. "Who?"

"I'm here to rescue you!" Luke said, mildly excited and annoyed at the response. "Look, I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Ben Kenobi."

"Ben Kenobi is here!" Leia was excited and got to her feet. "Where is he?"

Luke waved his hand to have her follow him. "Come on!"

 **. . .**

Nathrrya was pacing in front of Tarkin. She had made her way back to the conference room after parting ways with her apprentice shortly beforehand. She needed to buy Tara as much time as she possibly could to ensure the safe removal of the Princess and the Captain from the Death Star.

"He's here..." she said.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Tarkin asked. "What makes you think so? Surely he must be dead by now." He wasn't convinced.

The woman turned and glared at the slimy man. "Don't underestimate thepower of the Force," she warned. "Need me to demonstrate?"

"The Jedi are extinct," he said, ignoring her threat. "Their fire as gone out of the universe. You, your apprentice and Vader are all that remain of that ancient religion." There was a buzz on his comm. link. "Yes?"

" _Governor Tarkin, we have an emergency alert in detention block A A-twenty three."_

"The princess!" he barked. "Put all sections on alert!"

Nathrrya smiled. "Obi-Wan _is_ here," she said. "The Force is with him."

It was Tarkin's turn to glare. "If you're right, he must not be allowed to escape."

The woman shook her head. "Escape is not his plan. I must face him _alone._ " She turned and left.

 **. . .**

Captain Raymus Antilles had been kept in a cell block far away from the Princess. When Tara finally managed to locate the man it was none too soon. She entered the open doorway into the cell block and was greeted with a very battered and bloody looking man. Two troopers followed her in with their blaster and the man watched as she pulled one of her lightsabers from her utility belt and in two quick motions, both of the troopers were on the ground. Turning her attention to the captain, she felt her stomach churn as she approached him and knelt beside the man, who was curled up into a ball on the bed within the cell. She put a hand on the man's shoulder and could feel him shaking violently under her touch.

"I'm not here to hurt you," she said. "Alderaan is gone… Tarkin destroyed it with the Death Star. I'm here because I have no willingness to follow orders from a monster like that and I'm giving my skills to your Alliance. There is a rescue mission here for the Princess but they won't have time to get you. Can you walk?"

The man was beside himself and couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not. But something about the way she spoke of Alderaan made him believe her. Seeing the dead troopers on the floor gave the man a little more conviction. He struggled to sit up and Tara helped the man gain his balance, allowing herself to be used as a support. She handed the man one of the blasters from the fallen soldier.

"I'll need you to shoot anyone who stops us, but try not to gain attention. My ship is in docking bay 6204 which is on the opposite side of the Death Star."

The woman guided the battered man out but by then he had gotten a little bit of strength back, thanks to the rush of adrenaline he was starting to feel. He was relieved to know that the princess was being helped.

"I don't know what we did to earn your help," he said, "but I guarantee we will appreciate it."

"I'm sure you will," she said, raising her hand and using the Force to open a turbo lift nearby and pulling the man into it. She punched the security code into the computer and the lift moved, beginning to descend towards the hangar bays. "But don't thank me or appreciate this until we get you _and_ the princess out of here intact. A dead Rebel leader would defeat the purpose."

The lift came to a stop and both looked around. Tara looked at the console and tried to figure out what happened. She had an uneasy feeling about what was on the other side of the doors and she frowned. "Captain, this is going to be bloody. I'll have to let you go."

She leaned the man against the wall and grabbed her lightsabers. As the door opened she activated the glowing green blades and advanced on the group of troopers that had been alerted to the captain's escape. The sound of blasters and the electric zips of the laser bullets hitting Tara's blades resounded through the hallway into the lift, along with the clank of armored bodies hitting the ground. The sounds died down as the numbers dwindled until there wasn't any sound at all. Tara returned to the captain and once again used herself as a support for the man. He tried to keep his eyes off the carnage as she guided him through the hallway.

Fortunately for the two of them, the rest of the way to Hangar 6204 was clear and uninterrupted. Tara found the _Silver Phantom_ sitting in the bay with its shining silver hull glinting and reflecting that around it. Looking up at the control room to the hangar she saw that there were several officers posted there keeping their attention on any activity that could occur on the hangar.

There was no possibility that she would get Antilles through the open space of the hangar without them seeing. Based on the group of troopers she already had to dispatch it was clear that a marker had probably already been put on her indicating traitor to the Empire. She looked around her environment and hoped for a good idea.

And it came to her in the form of an empty cargo container. She grinned seeing it and guided the injured man over to the crate and carefully helped to lower him into the box. "At least this way I'm the target, not you. I'd probably survive longer than you would, no offense."

"None taken, trust me." She waited until he was down fully before she closed the lid. She left it open a crack for air ventilaition and looked around, gaguing her next movement. She activated the lift sequence of the container and starting to push it across the hangar floor. She looked up at the viewport to the control room and noticed that the officers weren't even paying attention. She used that opportunity to run across the rest of the way and effectively got the crate up the main ramp of the phantom class ship.

Antilles was brought out of the box once upon the ship and Tara helped the man to the medbay, sitting him on the bed and giving him a kolto shot and basic patch-up.

"This is a very nice ship," he said.

"I hope you can pilot it," she said. "You're going to have to take me out to the base and follow the Princess."

"Whatever you need. I'll get the ship fired up." The man was feeling much better after the kolto injection and was able to stand on his own, albeit a little unsteady. She watched him head to the bridge and sat in the captain's chair, flipping switches and getting the ship ready for take-off. She left the ship and looked around, seeing that the hangar was still clear. Surely everyone was probably in pursuit of the princess.

She needed to get the hangar shield deactivated so the ship could exit the Death Star. The panel was in the control room and she headed to the far side and ascended the ramp towards the small box. Peaking through the window of the door she saw that the two control officers were looking at the hangar scan of the ship and had taken note of a life form. She cursed and opened the door. The two men looked towards her, realized who she was, and pulled their pistols.

Both guns flew out of their hands. Before one of them could sound the alarm Tara had lifted her hand and threw her fist down to the floor. A great shockwave vibrated through the floor and shook both of the men, disorienting them. She then resorted to the basic right hook and knocked both of them out cold. They fell in heaps on the floor. Stepping over their unconscious bodies, the brunette Sith went to the control panel and punched in several security codes and sequences to unlock the chamber to allow for release of the ship. Once it was handled she turned and destroyed the panel for the outer door of the room so no one could enter from the hallway. She locked the main hangar entrance and headed back to the phantom.

"We're all set and ready," Antilles said, seeing the woman come in and take a seat next to him. She nodded.

"Everything is set outside," she confirmed. "Now we wait until the princess is off the Death Star and we follow them."

The captain punched in the coordinates of the Rebel Base so the hyperdrive was ready. He then looked to the woman and took a breath.

Now they played the wait game.


	6. 6 - Splinter

**EPISODE IV - CHAPTER SIX  
. . .**

Old Ben was rather pleased with himself as he'd successfully sneaked his way to the main tractor beam control room and had weakened it enough for the _Falcon_ to escape with the princess and the droids. The old Jedi hoped that whatever reckless plan that Luke and Han had come up with worked.

 _Like father like son,_ he mused while he hid in the shadows of a narrow passageway as several stormtroopers rushed past him in the main hallway. He checked to make sure they were gone, and then ran down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Ben never saw Nathrrya appear out of another side passage a slight smile on her face as she started to follow the old Jedi. The Sith knew where he was headed and she had to make sure she got there before he did.

Leia was not in a good mood. Somehow she and her would be rescuers had escaped the detention block only to be nearly crushed to death in a garbage compactor and now they all stank like Force only knew what.

"Listen. I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you. Okay?"

Han looked stunned at the command that the petite young woman had just thrown at him. "Look, Your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight! I take orders from one person! Me!" he emphasised the point by tapping his chest.

Leia scoffed "It's a wonder you're still alive then." she looked up at the large Wookiee as she went to move by him. "Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?"

Han watched dumfounded as she started to walk away. "No reward is worth this, especially after the turbolift and those two Sith." He said dismayed turning to Luke who just shrugged in response.

* * *

"You look like you've got the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders, boy." General Kota said as Galen walked onto the bridge of the _Rogue Shadow_ and flopped into his chair next to Juno. It briefly crossed his mind on how the general could _see_ that…

"I've got a lot on my mind is all." The younger man replied as he turned to face the blind Jedi. "It's more than just Alderaan being destroyed. It made me dizzy but it did a real number on Tara. If I hadn't known better I'd have sworn she was dead. She's spent the last few hours in the medbay."

"Is that where you've been all this time?" Juno asked. "At her bedside?"

Galen just nodded not really paying any attention to the blond. "Yeah and it's been an education in more ways than one." He said absently, then he recalled what Lord Therin had said. "General, you need to be more careful. Lord Therin sensed you a few times when your shielding slipped."

Kota's eyes widened in surprise. "So why haven't I been dragged away by stormtroopers if she's aware of me?"

Galen shook his head, shrugging as he did so. "That's one of the things I can't work out. Lord Therin may appear to be a Sith but she tends to act much more like a Jedi would, just with dark side powers. Tara's much the same. Vader can't figure it out and it probably terrifies the Emperor to death." He looked at the Jedi. "She said to me that the Jedi are rare enough as it is, and she doesn't want to see them disappear altogether. That doesn't really sound much like a Sith does it?"

Kota rubbed his chin, pondering what the boy was saying. "No it doesn't. She sounds like an interesting woman... shame I'll likely never get to meet her."

Galen smiled. "Yeah it's a shame - I think you'd get on well with her. But that's not the only thing Lord Therin said I can't figure out. Tara once told me her master, Darth Baras, was killed by another of his apprentices. Guess who that was? Lord Therin, though I got the feeling when she killed Baras she hadn't been his apprentice for quite some time."

"Interesting." Kota commented. "It might explain why she's training Tara."

"Maybe, but I don't think so. Lord Threin was behaving like, well an overly concerned parent in that medbay." Galen explained. "She wouldn't budge until Tara woke up and the only times she answered her comlink was when it was Captain Piett or General Madine, and they were asking about Tara's condition. The rest of the time it was Tarkin which she blatantly ignored. At one point she threw the thing into the wall."

All three chuckled at the thought of the Grand Moff being so ignored. But then Juno frowned, which went unnoticed by Galen. Kota sensed it but said nothing. What was coming was a wave he would rather stay away from.

"So if Lord Therin was the concerned mother were you the concerned boyfriend?" Juno asked with venom in her voice.

Galen glared towards the blond woman, the spite not being lost on him. "What's gotten into you Juno?" She gave him a very hard stare but he steeled himself against it, glaring at her more intensely, getting a little defensive. "Lord Therin seemed to certainly be playing 'concerned mother'. As for myself, think of it as she was giving the prospective boyfriend a damn kriffing good warning and some advice." What he said seemed to put the other woman in her place. She sunk back in the pilot's chair and looked down, feeling bad about her outburst. Galen didn't like hurting her - he cherished her work and her professionalism on his crew and she was a damn good pilot, something he was not going to let her forget. But she was being very obnoxious about the Tara and Nathrrya thing.

"And that advice I am going to heed because I don't want either of them angry at me… _ever._ "

* * *

Captain Antilles and Tara sat in the _Silver Phantom_ and waited for the show to begin. Tara kept her eyes on the different consoles and watched for the moment when it would be time to go. Nathrrya hinted at when would be the time and she was not going to miss it. But during that time, Antilles and Tara had exchanged pleasantries - names and basic info on one another. Tara had insisted on him calling her by her first name.

"Tara, can I ask you about something that's been bothering me ever since the _Tantive IV_?"

"Sure I'll try to Captain."

"I remember Lord Therin talking to her captain, Piett I think his name was, and she basically accused the Emperor of throwing the Imperial Starfleet at the rebellion in the hopes of destroying it. Did I hear her correctly?"

Tara nodded. "Yes, Captain, you most likely did. It sounds like something Nat would say."

"Why do you say that?" he asked curiously.

"The views Nat and I have on how things should be run are very different from Emperor Palpatine's. She can see that the Fleet could actually be used much more efficiently and effectively, and I have great inclination to believe her. All of this political mumbo-jumbo and maneuvering by the System Moffs and Sector Commanders annoys her to no end. Nat and I both have fancy titles but they lack any real power, so neither she nor I can do what it is we really want to. But she hasn't been idle. She has plans in motion and she's putting people and ships where they need to be. But Tarkin blowing Alderaan to smithereens blasted a huge hole in her plans, too." She smirked and turned towards the caption, who was listening to her wide-eyed and mouth gaping. "So, the only thing we can do right now is defect to the Rebellion and hope for the best."

Considering everything he just heard, he swallowed. "Was there a reason for her sparing me? She could have just killed me right there."

Tara shook her head. "You must have said something that struck her where it counts. She doesn't waste lives when there is a decent level of respect, and you must have said something she could understand and give respect to."

Antilles rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't answer when she asked me where the princess was. I had to give her time to secure the Death Star plans."

Tara nodded. "That would do it. You showed your tenacity and loyalty to what you believe in... something that Nat has always respected in others."

The Alliance captain looked at the young Sith suddenly. The earlier words the woman told him finally snapped into place and made sense to him. "Lord Therin was planning to kill the Emperor wasn't she?"

Tara smiled sadly. "Yes she was. Everything was almost in place too, but Alderan happened. If I know Nat - and trust me, I do - she still wants to kill the Emperor. She'll just have to go about it differently."

* * *

Luke, Han, Chewbacca, and Leia ran down an empty hallway then came to a stop before a bay window overlooking the docking bay where the _Falcon_ was. Troopers could be seen milling about the ship.

"There she is." Han said looking down proudly at his ship. Leia moved to stand alongside Han. As she did she touched his arm and pointed out the window to the Falcon, concerned surprise in her eyes.

"You came in that thing?" she asked incredulously, looking between the hunk of junk sitting in the docking bay and at the captain. "You're braver than I thought."

"Oh nice one, princess," the smuggler complained. "How about you tell me how you really feel?" Han didn't like it when people mocked his baby.

Old Ben knew he was near the smuggler's ship but suspected he'd never reach it. As he hurried along the hallway to the hanger where the _Millennium Falcon_ sat, out of the shadows stepped one of the Sith he'd felt over Tatooine.

"Well, well at last you get here Jedi. I was wondering when you'd arrive." The woman spoke as she activated her lightsaber.

Ben responded in kind as he slowly advanced toward her. The old Jedi was surprised her saber blade was violet and not the traditional red. He also couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her choice of clothing. "And you are, my dear?" he inquired.

The Sith woman smiled a little. "Lord Therin, or Nathrrya," she replied. "Whichever you prefer Master Jedi. And you?" It was a courtesy. She knew.

Ben grinned despite himself. "Obi-Wan Kenobi," he responded. "Or Ben, whichever you prefer."

Nathrrya chuckled. "I've heard Vader curse your name often enough." She cocked her head to one side. "It explains why Starkiller was on Tatooine, he was looking for you."

"Starkiller?" Obi-Wan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Vader's not-so-secret secret apprentice." Nathrrya said. She made a fancy spin of her lightsaber. "What makes me curious is what an old Jedi such as yourself is doing here with the son of Vader. My only guess is trying to rescue Vader's daughter, perhaps?"

The question was clear on Ben's face. "Don't look so surprised old man. Their force signatures are so similar to Vader's they have to be his children. But that still leaves me with some unanswered questions, of which I believe you can assist me with."

* * *

Han and Chewie, their weapons in hand, leaned back against the wall and surveyed the landing bay that held the _Falcon_ , watching the Imperial stormtroopers make their rounds of the hangar.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" Han grumbled.

Chewie growled a reply, as Luke and the princess joined them.

"What kept you?" Han asked.

"We ran into some old friends." Leia spat, glaring at him.

"Is the ship alright?" Luke asked, looking around the hangar to verify whatever answer he would be given.

"Seems okay, if we can get to it. Just hope the old man got the tractor beam out of commission." Han replied.

* * *

"And they will have to remain unanswered, my dear." Ben said as he fell into an offensive stance. He held his saber tightly in both of his hands as he looked calmly, but determinedly, at the other woman. She fell into her favorite defensive stance and smirked.

"Indeed, old man."

Moments later both Ben and the much younger woman were exchanging blows. As she twisted and turned against the blows he put down on her, he realized in short order that the woman was holding herself back significantly. Her moves were quick and flashy, but that's all they seemed to be to him - a distraction. Though from what he could not tell. He confirmed this when he could catch her glancing behind him now and again. When he turned and followed her gaze, a smile spread on his lips when he saw, there behind the mass of Stormtroopers, two very distinctive looking droids disappearing up the ramp of the _Milennium Falcon._

"Interesting." Kenobi mused as he caught sight of Leia, Han, Chewie and Luke making a run for the ship. Ben turned his attention back to the woman and continued their dance, their sabers striking one another expertly, if not just for show. Luke froze when he saw the two of them duelling and the Jedi would swear he heard the Sith mutter a very unladylike curse.

"Their timing could have been better." Nathrrya said as she slashed away at the old Jedi until their sabers locked.

"You can't win, my dear," he said. Nathrrya had to keep from rolling her eyes at the little nickname of endearment he seemed to have for her. "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." Kenobi raised his saber leaving himself open.

"I don't doubt that old man." Nathrrya said as she made to cut the Jedi in half, a wicked smile on her lips.

"No!" Luke yelled. As soon as he did the hanger was utter chaos as the stormtroopers turned to open fire. The Sith and Jedi looked at each other then out to the hanger and back again when they heard the commotion. Nathrrya then deactivated her lightsaber and stepped back.

"Get out of here while you can old man." Kenobi just looked dumbfounded.

The Sith sighed when she didn't get a more decent response. "The twins will need you," she urged. "And tell them they're _twins_ for Force sake! The boy is already crushing on his sister, and that's just _wrong_." She said wrinkling her nose.

Ben hesitated a moment before he turned and made a run for the _Falcon_ using his saber to deflect the blaster fire of the stormtroopers.

Han dropped into the pilot's seat and began to bring the _Falcon_ to life. He pulled back on the controls and the ship began to move. The dull thud of laser bolts bouncing off the outer hull of the ship could be heard as Chewie adjusted his controls at the co-pilot's seat.

"I hope the old man got that tractor beam out of commission, or this is going to be a real short trip. Okay, hit it!"

Chewie growled in agreement as he slammed the throttles fully open.

The _Millennium Falcon_ powered away from the Death Star docking bay, making a spectacular turn and disappeared into the vastness of space. No sooner than the _Falcon_ was clear of the Death Star did the _Silver Phantom_ come out of its own hangar and join the other starship in its escape from the enemy. The only thing that Han saw were the approaching enemy TIE fighters.

"We're coming up on the sentry ships," Han called out. "Hold 'em off, Chewie! Angle the deflector shields while I charge up the main guns!"

"Never mind the TIE fighters - I'd be more worried about that!" Leia yelled pointing out the flight deck window and slightly upward.

Up ahead and above them was the impressive bulk of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Leia would give all her credits as she knew without a doubt it was the _Accuser._

Han cursed. "Spast! We'll have to pass under her before we jump to lightspeed and when we do we'll be well within range of her guns."

As those present were figuring out what to do about their predicament, the _Falcon's_ comlink unit crackled to life. _"_ Millennium Falcon _this is the_ Silver Phantom, _are you there princess?"_

Leia recognized the voice immediately and rushed to find the receiver to return the communication. "I'm here Captain! I thought you were dead."

 _"So did I princess. I've been reliably informed that the_ Accuser _will not interfere and allow us to pass. See you at Yavin-4."_

* * *

Nathrrya walked into the conference room to meet with Tarkin, something she wasn't looking forward to.

"Are they away?" Tarkin asked.

"They have just made the jump into hyperspace," Nathrrya replied.

"You're sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship? I'm taking an awful risk, Therin. This had better work." Tarkin stood and faced the Sith "But what of your apprentice? She's betrayed the Empire and yourself."

"Betrayal is not an uncommon occurrence within the Sith, Tarkin," she hissed. "It was inevitable, such as the possibility of any of the apprentices around here to do the same thing. The princess wasn't wrong when she said you would lose your grip on this galaxy the more you squeeze."

"I see. Very well then. I'll simply brand her as a traitor and send out word that she is to be killed on sight, along with anyone she is helping. Too bad - she had promise but her own insecurities seem to be her downfall. I'd go after the one thing she cares about the most in order to cripple her."

Nathrrya was losing her temper. "The thing she cares the most for is _me_ , you dim-witted lackey."

"Evidently. Which is why I have ordered your arrest and detention to await trial for conspiracy to treason against the Emperor's Galactic Empire."

The smile on Tarkin's pompous face was the final straw that broke the tauntaun's back. Nathrrya locked the room's door and ensured that the override codes could not be used. She advanced on the older man and her eyes flashed red and stayed red. The man turned, feeling a change in the atmosphere in the room and the color drained from his face when he saw the utter terror that Lord Therin had become. She had tapped into the deepest recesses of the Dark Side, a place she didn't go often, and her whole image changed into a dark, dangerous and grotesque visage of horror.

A force hit his neck and his airways were blocked. He began to suffocate and slowly she raised him off the floor, her face twisted in a nasty snarl. "Governor Tarkin… I swore to kill you for what you did to Alderaan. You wouldn't see me coming, I said, but things have progressed in such a way that I couldn't plan out your torture and pain so I could watch you suffer the way you had made me and countless others suffer. My only regret is I won't have the pleasing vision of watching your face when I assist the Rebels in blowing this beloved station of yours out of the sky…"

The pressure on his neck tightened as she closed her fist. She smiled. "It was not a pleasure knowing you."

In one fell swoop she turned her hand a full ninety degrees and released her hand. The only thing that could be heard in the room was the sickening snap of breaking spinal bones and vertebrae and the thump as the man's body hit the floor in a heap.

She took a few moments to regain control, to grasp at the lifeline she had trained into herself to pull her out of the darkness that she allowed to consume her. Slowly she pulled herself from it, her normal image returning, her eyes going from red to orange, back to yellow and finally to her natural blue. She took a few calming breaths and shook off the feel of the Dark Side from her body. She then grabbed her comlink.

"General Madine, Captain Piett," she said into it, "We're leaving. Report to the _Accuser_ at once. I have places to be and things to plan, and I don't want to be around when someone finds the gift I left in the Death Star conference room. It seems that our good Governor Tarkin has experienced an unfortunate case of death."

* * *

"What's going on Firmus?" Pressly asked, concerned. "First, Lord Therin orders the ship swept for bugs and then that captured YT-1300 isn't to be stopped when it flees... it's almost as if she knew that would happen." Pressly wasn't the only one with questions. Piett was free to run the day to day of the _Accuser_ as he always had but everyone knew who the real authority was. "And now she recalls everyone from the Death Star implying she's just executed Grand Moff Tarkin, not that the man didn't deserve it."

Piett shook his head not knowing how to answer his friend. "I'm not completely certain," he finally said. "Lord Therin has had some fairly far reaching plans she's been working on and perhaps the Grand Moff's recent actions has forced her to change what she was planning and very suddenly, at that." He looked the navigator in the eyes. "Whatever she's up to we'll find out soon enough."

Pressly nodded at that. Lord Therin was generally very honest with her crew. It was one of the reasons they were so loyal and would sooner follow her rather than a distant politician who didn't value their lives much less the ship they crewed.

"Are you alright?" Pressly looked at the captain and furrowed his brow in concern. "You look like something's bothering you."

The captain nodded. "I suppose there is. When I went to inform Lord Therin that we had arrived at the Death Star something most strange happened and I still don't know what to make of it."

"Care to tell me? Maybe I can shed some light in it?"

Piett nodded and proceeded to outline what had occurred in Lord Therin's quarters. The chief navigator listened intently looking thoughtful as the captain told his tale. At the end, he grinned knowingly at Piett. "She was flirting with you, Firmus."

The Captain's eyebrows rose. "She was?"

"Yes without a doubt," he told told his superior. "If I were you, man, I'd do something about it. She might be a Sith but she's also one fine looking woman. Any man who catches her eye would be both flattered and terrified at the same time. And it appears you're that man."

With that, Pressly went back to his duties.

"You have no idea how right you are, Charles." Piett muttered. Spast... he still didn't know what to do!

* * *

Han removed his gloves and turned to the princess smiling, while Chewie moved into the back sections of the ship to check the damage. "Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh? You know, sometimes I even amaze myself."

"That doesn't sound too hard," she scoffed. "Besides, they let us go. It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape."

"Easy... you call that easy?" he asked, scowling.

"They're tracking us!" She furrowed her brow in anger and annoyance at his sense of pettiness.

Han scoffed, waving her off. "Not this ship, sister."

"Leia is right you know." Ben said in a calming tone. "That Star Destroyer alone should have been enough to stop us yet it did nothing of the sort."

"At least the information in Artoo is still intact." Leia said with some relief.

"What's so important? What's he carrying?" It's not like Han really wanted to know, but hey, what did he risk his life for? It was sort of important.

"The technical readouts of that battle station," the Princess responded. "I only hope that when the data is analyzed, a weakness can be found. It's not over yet, flyboy!"

"It is for me, sister!" he grumbled. "Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money!"

"You needn't worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive!" Leia angrily turned and started out of the flight deck. At the same time, Luke was coming in. She turned to the boy. "Your friend is quite a mercenary. I wonder if he really cares about anything... or anyone."

"I care!" Luke said, shaking his head as he sat in the co-pilot seat. He and Han stare out at the vast blackness of space as Leia headed to where the droids were to check up on them.

"So... what do you think of her, Han?" Luke asked once she was out of earshot.

"I'm trying not to, kid!" the smuggler grumbled, turning in his chair.

"Good..." the boy muttered under his breath, even so the old Jedi heard him and frowned before Ben got up and also left the flight deck.

"Still, she's got a lot of spirit. I don't know, what do you think? Do you think a princess and a guy like me..." Han wondered.

"No!" Luke said with finality as he looked away. Han just grinned at the younger man's jealousy.

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose just before he departed. If he thought the father was bad, the son was worse! The Sith was right - he needed to tell the twins they were twins before anything... unpleasant and awkward happened.

* * *

Nathrrya, General Madine and Captain Piett were all present in the conference room of the _Accuser._ The woman just finished telling them of her plan to defect and how Tarkin met his demise. While Madine was sitting in gaping wonder, Piett seemed very unphased by Nathrrya's easy conversation of having just killed a man in cold blood, even though said man deserved it more than anyone else in the galaxy.

"Gentlemen," she said, addressing them. "Do we have any comments, concerns or opinions otherwise to the plan?"

Piett shook his head but Madine was confused. He leaned forward in his chair and put his elbows on the table. "Forgive me, my Lord, but… firstly I have no idea how you knew I was helping the Rebels. Secondly, you're talking about defecting! How the kriff are you going to do that? You're on a Star Destroyer with at least 50,000 souls on board loyal to the Empire!"

"If I may, General," Piett said, "but the numbers on the _Accuser_ happen to be thirty-thousand and some six hundred. In recent rotations of troops and crew, each of them were hand-picked by Lord Therin and myself and each member is loyal to the commander of the ship before anything. Besides, many of them we kept and are defecting with us as they were former residents, citizens and denizens of the recently deceased planet of Alderaan."

Madine couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was defection on a grand scale and the smallest thing that Lord Therin was taking to the other side just so happened to be a fully equipped, stocked and manned Imperial Star Destroyer. The man fell backwards in his seat and heaved out a breath.

"I have to say, my Lord… you know how to make an impression. I'm in."

"I had no doubts in my mind, Madine," Nathrrya said with a smirk. She turned to her captain. "Man the engines, start her up and let's get the kriff out of here before we have trouble."

"Yes, my Lord, right away."

* * *

Admiral Motti had grown concerned when the doors to the conference room wouldn't open without the engineer's override codes. When the doors were finally able to be opened, the engineer, Motti and several Stormtroopers entered the room and found a very dead Governor Tarkin, twisted in an impossible direction, on the floor.

"Kriffing hell!" The engineer wasn't prepared to view something like that. The troopers accompanying them guided the man out of the room, leaving a very baffled and concerned Motti in their wake.

It was clear to the admiral what happened here. There was no possible way any of the crew would have been able to inflict that kind of damage on the man with their bare hands… but a Force user could. He turned and rushed out of the conference room and raced to the control center of the Death Star.

"Locate the _Accuser!_ " he ordered. "Send TIEs to board and arrest Lord Therin for the assassination of Govenor Tarkin and find put out bounties and warnings on Lord Synge for treason and defection!"

The man looked up at the view port and the last thing he saw was the _Accuser_ stretching out into a line and then completely disappearing. Motti was left speechless and, needless to say, terrified of what was to come.

* * *

The _Accuser_ had just entered hyperspace and Piett stood beside his commanding officer on the Bridge. "If I may my lord might I ask a personal question?"

"Of course, doesn't mean I'll answer." Nathrrya replied

"Why _did_ you name your ship _Violet Rose_?" The question had been bothering him for some time.

The Sith chuckled. "A fair question. Let me ask you something, Captain: what do you suppose most people see when they look at me?"

Piett frowned as he considered the question. "A powerful Sith Lord?" he ventured.

Nathrrya nodded. "Exactly... but that's not all I am, Firmus. I'm a woman, too, and sadly I don't get to just be a woman as often as I'd like. That's why I named my ship _Violet Rose_. I like flowers, Firmus, and chocolates." She smiled and looked up, almost as if she was remembering something blissful "Oh Force! I can't remember the last time I had a decent box of chocolates." There was something wistful in her voice.

Firmus Piett just hummed thoughtfully.

* * *

Juno had to practically slap Galen awake when the holocom buzzed to life. The image of Lord Vader crackled and sparked as he ordered the blond pilot to fetch his apprentice for a very needed discussion. After a few minutes, Galen arrived at the meeting space and stood before the image of his master.

"Some insight is needed, apprentice," Vader said in his mechanical deep voice. "I am getting some rather disturbing reports of treason and defection. What is happening on the Death Star?"

Galen frowned, wondering where he should begin. "Master, Lords Therin and Synge seem to have gone against Governor Tarkin. The planet Alderaan was made an example of and the Death Star was used to destroy the planet."

So, Vader thought, it was true and that's what the feeling was rippling through the Force.

"Therin and Synge… they're very unique, Master."

The way his apprentice spoke Lord Synge's name was not lost on the Sith lord. "Starkiller, you are to take your ship and go undercover to spy on the Rebels and on the two women. I want specific information on their movements, their plans and their allies in this defection. Report to me regularly."

Galen was surprised at his master's orders. He was going to say something but thought better of it. He bowed to the holocom image. "Yes, Master."

The comm shut off and Galen was left with a distinctly strange and mixed opinion of what he was to do. He turned and went to the flight deck and took a seat. Juno turned to him.

"Can you get a readout of the coordinates of the _Accuser_ before she hit hyperspace?"

Juno frowned. "Perhaps. I'm sure I can pick up something. It won't be horribly accurate, but it will get us close-"

"Good, just do it, please."

That was enough for Juno to realize the conversation was over.

* * *

Back on the _Falcon,_ Ben had returned to the flight deck to check on Luke and saw that Han had put the ship on autopilot so he could go and check on some of the mechanical components. Luke just looked out of the viewport at the racing stars as they passed through the hyperspace canal. The old man came up and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder before taking a seat.

"Are you alright, Luke?" Luke sighed and rolled the question around in his head before looking at the old Jedi.

"I thought you were dead," he said. "I can't figure why she'd let you go."

"Yes, it's very mysterious, indeed."

"Han and I ran into two women in a turbolift. They had lightsabers too. Does that mean they're Sith, like Vader?"

Old Ben watched Luke as he thought about what he said. "You ran into them? And you weren't discovered?"

"We bluffed our way out," Luke said, beginning to spin back and forth in the chair. "We were dressed like Stormtroopers and got away from them."

Ben chuckled, but it was uneasy. At least the puzzle was coming together with each little piece that was being brought to light. "You weren't bluffing. If anything, they knew exactly who you were, but like I was spared, so were you. The one I was dueling should have overpowered me, but she didn't. You could have been caught but weren't. I don't think this is going to be the only time we'll come across them."

At that moment the comlink crackled to life and Luke turned towards it to see the readout indicating it was from the _Silver Phantom,_ the ship Antilles had called from.

 _"You do realize I can hear you talking about us, right?"_ The voice was clearly feminine and not Captain Antilles. Luke was a little taken back because he recognized the voice as the other dark haired woman from the turbolift. _"Just so you know, prune, Nat doesn't do anything random. Everything has a reason and a purpose, even if it's nonsensical. It all works out in the end."_

Ben raised an eyebrow. "I know I said we'd meet again, I just didn't think it would be this soon! You must be the apprentice to the master."

 _"Yep, that's me."_

At that moment, some commotion occurred in the back of the ship that made both Luke and Ben turned their heads towards the doorway.

"Artoo, I suggest a new strategy - let the Wookie win."

Ben and Luke exchanged looks as the old Jedi got up and made it way to the living section of the ship to see about mediating. Luke was left alone in the flight deck with the open channel. He turned back to it and took a breath.

"So, I got the name of the commander of the Death Star completely wrong, didn't I?"

 _"So wrong you would have been right, sprout."_ There was amusement in her tone but Luke bristled.

"I'm not that short!" he said. He got light laughter in return.

 _"Hey, I'm taller than you by an inch!"_

"I'm just going to quit while I'm ahead," he said. He got an affirming sound from the woman and he pursed his lips in thought. "Do you always wear such… revealing clothing?"

 _"You think what I was wearing in the lift was revealing?"_ she asked, incredulously. _"What Nat wears is revealing… but what I usually wear on a regular off day is more comparable to the kind of thing exotic dancers wear."_ There was a slight pause. _"You're blushing, aren't you?"_

"Am not!" came the reply. "You mean you actually fight in that thing?"

 _"No way. What you saw me in earlier was my battle gear. I have one for piloting and one for just relaxing in. So… tell me something, Sprout and I'll tell you something, since we have some time to kill before we get to our destination."_

Luke bristled again. "It's Luke," he said. "Luke Skywalker. I found out my father was a Jedi, I'm apparently strong in the Force and I've started training."

Tara had come across that name before. ON her off time she spent most of it in the archives and on the holonetwork looking up different things from the era she and her friend happened to find themselves in. Nearly twenty years prior there was an order sent out by Emperor Palpatine called "Order 66", and to put things mildly there had been an entire, galaxy-wide eradication of the Jedi Order. Countless Jedi were massacred by the Clones and a list of names of those who were effectively disposed of was posted. The name Skywalker came up on the list and Tara was only familiar with it because of her morbid curiosity. Nathrrya, on the other hand, refused to read the report for obvious reasons. Tara kept this to herself.

 _"I'm sorry Luke,"_ she said. _"You're just too cute and I have fun picking on you. A lot like Sparkle Star, though Nat torments him more than I do."_

"Sparkle Star?" he repeated. "I feel sorry for him already."

 _"Don't be. Galen is man enough to take it. As far as I know, he's confident in his masculinity."_

"So… he's your boyfriend, then? First-name basis." For some reason he felt like he overstepped something. It was Tara's turn to bristle.

 _"What is up with everyone thinking that he's my boyfriend?"_ she nearly hollered into the comlink. _"First Nat, now you. Seriously? Is the prune going to accuse me of being in a relationship with him now?"_

Luke couldn't help but get a good chuckle out of the Sith woman's distress. Soon after she joined him, both parties feeling a little more at ease with one another. To Luke, it felt good to speak to someone closer to his age bracket that wasn't the Princess. For some reason, he nearly forgot that the woman on the other side of the comlink was a Sith. "Is… this 'Nat' your master then?"

There was a slight pause as Tara thought it over. _"I guess you can say that. It's never been official. A long time ago I had a master - he'd been Nat's master as well, but he was a paranoid creature, very nasty, very mean… manipulative. Nat gave him the very unflattering nickname of Darth Fat Arse. But he took it a step too far. I had completed my training and he ordered me to kill her, but I never got the chance. She ended up killing him…_

"It was the most freeing moment of my life, to know that he was no longer there to control me or her or anyone else, for that matter. I turned on him when he tried to kill someone very close to me."

Luke was taken aback by how easily she spoke of betrayal and conspiracy. But in her voice, though she seemed to try and hide it, there was a sadness that seemed to permeate from the memories she had to be recalling as she told him. He frowned.

 _"Hey, Luke?"_

"Yeah?"

 _"Thank you"_ she said. _"For just letting me talk. I know you don't have any basis to trust a Sith, let alone two of them, but I want to let you know that Nat and I are not thrilled with what happened to Alderaan… it being blown away like that. She and I were born on a side that wrapped its ugly hands around us and we had to cope with what we ended up with. But you can trust us, and I promise I'll protect you all."_

Luke felt something in the Force. It was weak but it was there and it was telling him that he could trust her words. "Tara, regardless of where you came from, I'm just glad you're on our side."

* * *

The Captain still couldn't decide if what he was doing was tantamount to suicide or not. Be that as it may he had done his research well, or so he hoped. He'd find out soon enough as he pressed the buzzer next to Lord Therin's door to her personal quarters.

A few moments later the door swished open and revealed the woman herself dressed in a fluffy, light pink dressing robe with matching slippers. Piett blinked. The man wasn't used to seeing Lord Therin so... covered, as only her hands, feet and ankles were visible.

She waved him in, an amused smile on her lips. "What do I owe this visit to Firmus?" she asked, leaning against her desk. Nathrrya noted that she was impressed with the way the man entered without so much as hinting to what was behind his back. The door swished closed behind him.

"Our conversation from several hours ago got me thinking," Piett stated. "And I felt you could do with these." He revealed what he'd been concealing behind his back. In his left hand was a single perfect blue rose in a clear transport cylinder and in his right was a very expensive looking box of chocolates.

It took a lot to surprise Nathrrya but she was very pleasantly surprised by the thoughtfulness of the man before her. She smiled inwardly at the meaning of the colour of the rose. It seemed Firmus Piett considered her unattainable. That was one notion she'd have to dissuade him of.

She walked over to the man and took the offered gifts. "Thank you Firmus. You really know had to make a girl feel special." Without even thinking about it she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before she took the gifts and placed them on her desk.

Piett's eyes went wide with surprise. He hadn't expected his commander to kiss him! He really didn't know how to react. However, he did find the feeling... pleasant.

Nathrrya laughed lightly seeing the poor man's reaction, "When was the last time a woman kissed you?" she asked, clearly amused.

"Not in a very long time my lord." Piett admitted.

"Firmus, we're alone in my quarters - you can call me Nathrrya." She loosely folded her arms.

The captain only nodded as the realization of where he was and what he was doing finally hit home. He also wondered if Lord Therin had anything on under that fluffy pink robe. Piett had to resist the urge to facepalm. Where in the spast had that thought come from?

Nathrrya lost it then as she started to laugh. "Firmus! Don't worry, I have a nightgown on under this." She grinned devilishly then. "Would you like to see?" She made to undo the belt that secured the garment.

"How did you know?" Piett squeaked in alarm. When he saw her going for the belt he raised his hands and blushed furiously. "And that's not n-necessary my lord..." Part of his mind wanted to hear Nathrrya laugh more often. It was a sound he could surely get used to.

The Sith pouted at having her fun spoiled. "Fine. And you happened to be broadcasting a little loudly." She let her arms drop to her sides.

The captain just nodded he should have realized that by now. "I'm glad you like the gifts. It's getting late so I had better go, my lo- er... Nathrrya."

The woman smiled brilliantly. "Very well Firmus. And you may find I'm not as unattainable as you think."

The captain looked back over his shoulder clearly confused.

"The blue rose," she indicated. "It signifies that whoever you give it to is unattainable. I assure you that I'm not."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Fluff. YAY! I wanted to put a plug in here to say THANK YOU to all of you who have reviewed, favored and are now tracking the progress of this story. Donz and I are rather pleased that this random idea has gained a little favoritism and it makes us happy knowing that you guys like it. He's been working hard on his next TDS chapter, but it's been kicking his butt... and I'm not much help because I have no idea where it's going either. But we'll get that updated too!

Stay tuned, folks. Next chapter we're landing on Yavin-4. *laughs insanely in her head* (I hate Yavin... so MUCH. The planet lags like a mofo on my computer because of all the FOLIAGE and it's just a creepy place, but there will be some more fluff soon.)


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